Inpatient Tricuspid Valve Transcatheter and Surgical Inpatient Outcomes: A Propensity Matched Analysis

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Interventional Cardiology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is a prevalent valvular heart disease with substantial morbidity and mortality.
• Surgical tricuspid valve repair (STVr) and replacement (STVR) are established treatments.
• Transcatheter tricuspid valve interventions (TTVI) offer less invasive alternatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare inpatient outcomes of TTVI versus traditional surgical interventions (STVr and STVR) for TR.
• To evaluate differences in mortality, hospital stay duration, and costs between TTVI and surgical approaches.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database from 2011 to 2020.
• Identified and compared outcomes for TTVI, STVr, and STVR procedures.
• Utilized propensity score matching to create comparable patient cohorts for TTVI-STVr and TTVI-STVR comparisons.

Main Results:

• TTVI demonstrated significantly lower in-hospital mortality compared to both STVr (2.4% vs 7.0%) and STVR (2.3% vs 11.6%).
• Patients undergoing TTVI experienced significantly shorter hospital stays than those undergoing STVr (6.9 vs 15.6 days) or STVR (7.2 vs 17.6 days).
• TTVI was associated with reduced healthcare costs and fewer complications compared to surgical interventions.

Conclusions:

• TTVI is associated with improved inpatient outcomes, including lower mortality and shorter hospitalizations, compared to surgical tricuspid valve interventions.
• These findings suggest TTVI as a potentially safer and more efficient alternative for TR management.
• Limitations include the retrospective nature of the study and lack of long-term follow-up; prospective trials are warranted.