Transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) may be a "feasible and effective approach" for treating high-risk patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) who have limited therapeutic options, based on one-year outcomes of the TRAVEL study published April 9 in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

The study enrolled 126 patients, all with symptomatic severe TR and at high surgical risk, who underwent TTVR using the LuX-Valve system. The average age of the participants was 66 years and approximately 79% were women. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality and hospitalization for heart failure (HF) at one-year follow-up.

Overall results demonstrated a 100% device success rate and a high procedural success rate of 98.4%, along with a 10.3% all-cause mortality rate and a 4.0% rate of hospitalizations for HF. Researchers also reported a sustained reduction of TR to mild or less in 95.2% of patients at one year, as well as significant improvements in clinical functional status outcomes, including NYHA functional class I or II and six-minute walking distance.

"Although the treatment carried a heightened risk for bleeding complications, the markedly lower mortality and HF hospitalization rates, coupled with substantial improvements in clinical functional status, suggest that the LuX-Valve may offer an acceptable treatment option for high-risk patients with TR," said Xiangbin Pan, MD, PhD, FACC, et al. However, they add that longer term follow-up and further studies are needed to validate the survival benefits.

In a related editorial comment, Neil P. Fam, MD, MSc, and Sami Alnasser, MD, commend the authors "for sharing their experience with the first-generation LuX-Valve," noting that the study's sample size "is appropriate for an early experience and is comparable with the single-arm TRISCEND I study (126 vs. 176 patients) with promising 30-day safety." They stress that "ongoing innovation is essential to enable the treatment of more patients in need of tricuspid valve intervention."