Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and renowned Structural Heart Specialist Dr. Sumanto Mukhopadhyay has completed two consecutive cases of the innovative Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement (TTVR) procedure. At Apollo Multispeciality Hospitals in Kolkata, these procedures—the first of their kind in India—offer patients with severe tricuspid valve regurgitation who were previously considered unsuitable for traditional open-heart surgery a potentially life-saving non-surgical option.

Blood flow between the right atrium and right ventricle is regulated by the tricuspid valve. Blood leaks backward when it doesn’t close correctly, causing extreme fluid retention, organ failure, exhaustion, dyspnea, and ultimately heart failure. This valve was once known as the “forgotten valve” due to the prohibitive mortality risks associated with surgical treatment, particularly in elderly or frail patients.

TTVR is a cutting-edge, minimally invasive cardiac procedure. Through a tiny puncture in the femoral or jugular vein, a thin catheter is used to guide a bioprosthetic valve into the heart. The new valve is expanded after it is carefully placed inside the damaged native valve, instantly reestablishing normal blood flow.

Advantages for the patients

​ No Open-Heart Surgery: Does not require a cardiopulmonary bypass machine or a sternotomy.

Quick Recovery: Compared to weeks of recuperation following open-heart surgery, patients can walk within hours and are usually released in a few days.

Instant Relief: Swelling, dyspnea, and heart failure symptoms are quickly reduced.

Systems such as those from Jenscare Scientific Co., Ltd., China, were successfully and precisely deployed under the direction of Dr. Sumanto Mukhopadhyay and the committed structural heart team at Apollo Kolkata. Evaluations conducted after the procedure verified optimal valve function, total backflow resolution, and substantial symptom relief without complications.

​Having completed more than 2,000 TAVI/TAVR procedures, Dr. Mukhopadhyay offers a wealth of international experience in edge-to-edge repair and TTVR procedures. He frequently instructs interventional cardiologists in sophisticated structural cardiac techniques throughout India as a renowned proctor and faculty member. The limits of what is feasible in structural heart interventions are still being pushed by these achievements.

Priyanka Dutta