POV:
Your legs feel like they’re in quicksand.
You’re exhausted and can’t get out of bed.
You want to eat but have no appetite.
This is reality for many of the 1.6 million people in the U.S. living with one of the most common conditions you’ve never heard of — tricuspid regurgitation (TR) — which is otherwise known as a leaky heart valve.
The tricuspid valve is crucial, allowing blood to move from the heart to the lungs. And if the tricuspid valve doesn’t seal fully when it closes and has a leak, some of the blood will flow backward within the heart, instead of moving forward to the lungs. This can force the heart to work harder, causing a range of negative effects.
The result: for many, everything from movement issues to a lack of energy to the inability to live their lives with the freedom and quality they deserve. It can mean missing out on memory-making and time spent with loved ones.
TR has taken too much from too many and left them with limited options.
For some with TR, symptoms persist despite medical therapy, and open-heart surgery isn’t even feasible. People from caregivers to researchers to those living with the condition searched for a minimally invasive treatment that could be an option for those not considered good candidates for surgery. We were up for the challenge.
The first-of-its-kind TriClip G4 system — designed to repair a leaky tricuspid valve — is helping to offer improved quality of life in a tiny device. And it’s now approved for select TR patients by the FDA.
The introduction of the TriClip G4 system in the U.S. opens new avenues for some of the people living with TR who otherwise would remain untreated.
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