When treating tricuspid valve stenosis, your doctor may suggest lifestyle changes or prescribe medication to help manage symptoms you are experiencing. If your condition is advanced, then surgery is often the best form of treatment.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle changes, such as reducing salt intake, limiting alcohol, quitting smoking and losing weight, can help you reduce heart failure symptoms. Your doctor will continue to monitor the progression of your condition.
Medications
Your doctor may prescribe medications to help: reduce blood pressure (e.g., beta blockers, diuretics, ACE inhibitors); manage heart failure; and control arrhythmias. Occasionally, antibiotics are given to reduce infection risk before dental or medical procedures. Following valve replacement, blood thinners are prescribed to prevent clotting and reduce stroke risk.
Procedures & Surgery
If you have advanced stenosis, your doctor may recommend replacing the narrowed tricuspid valve with a new mechanical or tissue (from pig, cow, or human donor) valve. In some patients, interventional cardiologists can guide a balloon-tipped catheter into the tricuspid valve and gently inflate it to force open the valve and temporarily improve blood flow (balloon valvotomy or valvuloplasty). Examples of other surgical therapies include:
- Tricuspid valve replacement procedures for patients with severe disease, or needing re-replacement or pulmonary valve swap surgery (Ross procedure)
- Valve replacement and simultaneous treatment of other serious heart problems; such as aortic disease, arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, or heart failure
- Separate fused leaflets, reshape a narrowed valve, and remove calcium
- Valve repairs and replacements without open surgery