South India’s First Tricuspid Clip Procedure Performed at Gleneagles Hyderabad

Hyderabad: In a significant advancement for cardiac care in India, doctors at Gleneagles Hospitals have successfully performed South India’s first Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Edge-to-Edge Repair (T-TEER) on a 75-year-old patient suffering from severe tricuspid regurgitation and advanced heart failure.

The procedure was led by cardiologist Dr. M. Sai Sudhakar and also marked the first use of India’s indigenously developed TEER system, MyClip.

The patient had been experiencing severe breathlessness, persistent fatigue and fluid retention even at rest, significantly affecting daily life. After a detailed clinical assessment, the heart team recommended a minimally invasive catheter-based repair to treat the leaking valve.

Tricuspid regurgitation occurs when the tricuspid valve on the right side of the heart does not close properly, causing blood to flow backward within the heart. Over time, this can lead to swelling in the legs and abdomen, worsening fatigue and progressive heart failure. The condition has often been under-recognised and historically managed mainly through medication aimed at controlling symptoms rather than correcting the valve defect.

The Tricuspid Clip therapy offers a less invasive alternative. Through a small puncture in a vein in the leg, doctors guide a catheter to the heart using advanced imaging. A tiny clip device is then placed on the leaking valve to help it close more effectively, reducing backward blood flow and improving heart function.

“This procedure marks an important step forward in treating tricuspid valve disease, which has long remained underdiagnosed and undertreated, especially among elderly and high-risk patients,” said Dr. Sudhakar. “With the T-TEER technique, we can repair the leaking valve through a catheter-based approach by placing a small clip that brings the valve leaflets together and reduces regurgitation.”

He added that the use of the indigenously developed MyClip device makes the achievement even more significant, as locally developed structural heart technologies could reduce treatment costs and expand access to advanced valve therapies for a larger number of patients.

Since the procedure does not require opening the chest, recovery time is generally faster and the physical stress on patients is significantly lower compared to conventional open-heart surgery — an important advantage for elderly individuals and those with multiple health conditions.

Dr. Sudhakar also credited the coordinated efforts of the cath lab, imaging, anaesthesia, nursing and critical care teams, highlighting that multidisciplinary collaboration is essential for the success of complex structural heart interventions.