New therapeutic options for treating patients with tricuspid valve problems

28 September 2020

The first transcatheter tricuspid valve repairs in Greece using the PASCAL transcatheter technology were successfully performed recently on three patients with severe heart valve problems at the HYGEIA Hospital Transcatheter Heart Valve Department.

The procedures were performed by Mr. Konstantinos Spargias, Director of the HYGEIA Transcatheter Heart Valve Department, along with Mr. Michalis Chrysocheris and Mr. Antonis Chalapas, Deputy Directors of the Department.

This was the first time the PASCAL transcatheter technology was used commercially in Greece. The technology was officially approved in the EU in May 2020 and carries the CE mark for tricuspid valves. Note that tricuspid valve repair using the PASCAL technology is already being used successfully on other patients at the HYGEIA Transcatheter Heart Valve Department in the last 2 years as palliative care.

This repair technique safely allows the management of severe tricuspid insufficiency completely percutaneously, without conventional heart surgery. The benefits for the patients include fast recovery and return to daily activities. Until recently, the only treatment available was conventional surgery, which is often considered high-risk and is avoided, with patients only receiving pharmaceutical treatment. Now that transcatheter repair is possible, all the more patients have the chance to receive effective tricuspid valve treatment, with clear benefits both to their clinical condition and quality of life.

The HYGEIA Hospital Transcatheter Heart Valve Department, headed by Interventional Cardiologist Konstantinos Spargias, provides well-rounded and reliable management of all heart valve conditions using transcatheter technology.

The Department staff’s experience exceeds 1,500 transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVI) and 300 transcatheter mitral and tricuspid valve repairs, making the HYGEIA Transcatheter Heart Valve Department a center of excellence and training globally.