Abstract 16252: A Survival Analysis in Patients With Tricuspid Regurgitation and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Introduction: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a well established treatment in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. It involves simultaneous pacing of the left and right ventricles to restore ventricular synchrony, leading to increased cardiac output and contractility. The impact of CRT on tricuspid regurgitation (TR) severity has not been evaluated. Studies have shown that up to 22% of CRT recipients have significant TR, and of these patients only 41% will improve to no or mild TR. For a majority of patients who have persistent significant TR despite CRT, long term outcomes are put into question.

Hypothesis: Tricuspid regurgitation adversely affects the response and survival of CRT patients.

Goals: To analyze the prevalence of TR in a cohort of patients admitted to The Christ Hospital who have undergone CRT. To assess the association between TR after CRT and long-term survivability.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study conducted at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati Ohio. 13292 patients diagnosed with tricuspid regurgitation (mild to severe) in total were included. 184 of these patients underwent CRT, and survival probability was measured against the no CRT group. Kaplan meier method was used for analysis.

Results: Survival probabilities at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years for patients with CRT = 0.769, 0.661, and 0.558 respectively. Patients without CRT = 0.911, 0.863, and 0.826 respectively. Hazard ratio = 2.84 (2.33, 3.47) compared to solely tricuspid regurgitation.

Conclusions: Patients with TR without CRT had greater survival rates up to three years compared to TR with CRT. The risk of death in the TR with CRT was 2.84 times higher than the no CRT group. It can be further investigated why the no CRT group had a greater survival rate than CRT. Limitations include variable assessments of TR due to the subjective nature of grading TR. Future research could investigate the difference between primary (device-related) and secondary TR in this cohort.