Natural History of Functional Tricuspid Regurgitation: Implications of Quantitative Doppler Assessment

Abstract Objectives This study sought to define the relationship between functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and mortality in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF); and to establish the prognostic value of quantitative measures of TR severity (i.e., effective regurgitant orifice area [EROA] and regurgitant volume). Background The significance of TR in chronic heart failure is controversial. Earlier studies have shown an independent impact of TR on mortality, whereas more recent evidence suggests myocardial impairment to be the driving force of mortality rather than TR itself. Earlier studies have used qualitative measures of TR severity, hence the prognostic value of more quantitative measures of TR severity (i.e., EROA and regurgitant volumes) remains unclear. Methods We enrolled 382 patients with HFrEF on guideline-directed medical therapy and assessed TR EROA and regurgitant volume by Doppler/2-dimensional echocardiography. All-cause mortality was defined as the primary study endpoint. Results TR severity was associated with the HFrEF phenotype with more symptoms (p = 0.004), higher neurohumoral activation (p  2 increase of the EROA and of 1.013 (95% confidence interval: 1.007 to 1.020; p  2 , and the regurgitant volume ≥20 ml with sustained excess mortality thereafter. Conclusions This large-scale outcome study demonstrates the prognostic value of quantitative Doppler-echocardiographic measures of TR severity in HFrEF. The thresholds for EROA and TR regurgitant volume associated with mortality in our study fall within current ranges defining nonsevere TR. This may potentially impact therapeutic decision making, particularly timing of intervention.