The leakiness (insufficiency) of heart valves is a growing problem in our ageing population. In particular, the understanding of tricuspid valve insufficiency has increased in recent years. Patients with severe tricuspid valve insufficiency suffer from a significant reduction in physical performance, quality of life and, unfortunately, life expectancy. As the risk of surgery is too high for most patients due to concomitant diseases, until a few years ago treatment was limited to the administration of medication, in particular diuretics. However, these are not sufficient to achieve a long-term improvement in symptoms or prognosis.

For some years now, these patients can be treated with a catheter-based technique, the so-called edge-to-edge method. A catheter is guided to the heart via a vein access in the groin and the leaflets are brought together with a clamp-like device so that they better close the gaps in the valve. This significantly reduces the insufficiency. This technique has been used at the Department of Medicine I for more than 8 years. The safety and effectiveness of the method has been demonstrated in several scientific publications in which the Department of Medicine I played a key role.

In order to conclusively assess the long-term effect of the technique, so-called randomized clinical studies are also being carried out. The results of the first randomized comparison of the edge-to-edge method with conservative therapy were recently presented at the congress of the American College of Cardiology.

Private lecturer Mathias Orban and Professor Steffen Massberg, Director of the clinic, have now published their assessment of the study results at the invitation of the highly renowned New England Journal of Medicine.

The study results show that the edge-to-edge method is very safe and highly effective. This technique leads to symptomatic improvement with low complication rates, particularly in older patients with concomitant diseases.

It remains to be seen whether this therapy also improves patient survival in the long term and, in particular, reduces the frequency of hospital stays. The latter are not only a relevant medical problem, but also cause considerable costs for the healthcare system.

Medical Clinic I is currently conducting the comparable TRICI-HF study under the direction of Professor Jörg Hausleiter, Deputy Director of the clinic. The industry-independent, Germany-wide TRICI-HF study is supported by the DZHK and aims in particular to answer the question of whether survival and the need for hospital treatment can be improved with the edge-to-edge method.