Tricuspid regurgitation is a public health crisis

Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) has long been a forgotten valve disease of benign reputation. However, TR deserves higher attention and represents a growing public health crisis. Indeed, recent epidemiological data suggest that 1.6 million US residents are affected by moderate or severe TR. Furthermore, large recent cohorts demonstrate that higher degrees of TR are associated with considerable excess mortality, independent of all background clinical and hemodynamic contexts. Finally, analysis of recent cohorts also shows that >90% of patients with moderate or severe TR are never offered surgical treatment and remain untreated. Therefore, TR is frequent, severely impacts outcomes, and is rarely treated, justifying the development of new strategies and methods for its treatment. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.