Introduction
Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is a prevalent echocardiographic finding1,2, mostly considered as a benign finding and untreated unless associated with severe or major comorbidity such as significant pulmonary hypertension, right or left ventricular dysfunction.
The clinical impact of TR is still under investigation due to variation in the results of previous studies 3,4. This variation was mainly associated with the heterogenous and numerous comorbidities associated with TR that influenced clinical outcomes, such as low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)5, right ventricular (RV)6 dilation and dysfunction, and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) 7, thus, leading to studies that tried to isolate TR from potential confounders. Recent studies had demonstrated association between severe isolated TR and excess mortality and morbidity in various patient populations2,6,8, but lesser degrees of TR were associated as well with poor prognosis, especially in men 9. Nonetheless, current management guidelines of TR patients are ambiguous and most often consider interventional therapy only at the time of mitral or aortic valve surgery 5.
To date, no study evaluated the prevalence and possible prognostic implication of TR in ST segment elevation (STEMI) patients. In the present study, we investigated the clinical profile, in-hospital outcomes, and long-term mortality associated with the presence of TR in STEMI patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).