Criteria for determining the need for surgical treatment of tricuspid regurgitation during mitral valve replacement

Outcomes of tricuspid annuloplasty with and without prosthetic rings: a retrospective follow-up study

BACKGROUND

The efficacies of tricuspid valve repair, risk factors for treatment failure and postoperative quality of life have not been thoroughly evaluated in patients with tricuspid insufficiency associated with rheumatic heart disease (RHD). We therefore reviewed our experience with ring and non-ring tricuspid annuloplasty for the treatment of functional tricuspid insufficiency (TI) in RHD.

METHODS

This retrospective, follow-up study involved 74 RHD patients who underwent either non-ring annuloplasty (De Vega procedure; 34 patients, 45.95 %) or ring annuloplasty (40 patients, 54.05 %) along with concurrent mitral or/and aortic valve replacement. Operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic clamping time, intensive care unit stay and extubation time were recorded. Echocardiographic findings and Short Form (SF)-36 scores were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

In hospital mortality and complications were similar in the two study groups (P = 0.6755). At 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and even longer after the operation, the Kaplan-Meier curve of freedom from mild and above recurrent TI showed significantly better efficacy in the ring annuloplasty group than the De Vega procedure group (log rank P = 0.0377). Risk factors for recurrent TI included high pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) and non-ring annuloplasty (PASP: hazard ratio = 1.52; non-ring: hazard ratio = 1.42). The mental component summary score at 1 year after the operation did not significantly differ between the two groups (P = 0.6446), but the physical component summary score was significantly better in the ring annuloplasty group (P = 0.0037).

CONCLUSION

Compared with non-ring annuloplasty, ring annuloplasty was associated with improved survival, decreased TI recurrence and higher quality of life in RHD patients undergoing tricuspid valve repair combined with mitral and/or aortic valve replacement.

Influence of mitral valve repair versus replacement on the development of late functional tricuspid regurgitation

OBJECTIVES

To study the determinants of functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) progression after surgical correction of mitral regurgitation, including the influence of mitral valve (MV) repair (MVr) versus replacement (MVR) for degenerative mitral regurgitation.

METHODS

From January 1995 to January 2006, 747 adults with MV prolapse underwent isolated MVr (n=683) or MVR (n=64; mechanical in 32). The mean age was 60.8 years, and 491 were men (66.0%). Moderate preoperative functional TR was present in 115 (15.4%). The MVR group had a greater likelihood of New York Heart Association class III or IV (75.0% vs 34.4%, P<.001), atrial fibrillation (20.3% vs 8.3%, P=.002), a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (61.0% vs 65.2%, P<.003), and a higher pulmonary artery pressure (50.1 vs 41.2 mm Hg, P=.001). The patients were monitored for a mean of 6.9 years (MVr) or 7.7 years (MVR; P=.075).

RESULTS

During late follow-up, no difference was found between the groups in the development of moderately severe or severe TR: 1 to 5 years (3.0% vs 3.3%, P=.91) and >5 years (6.1% vs 6.5%; P=.93). The univariate predictors of severe TR after 5 years were older age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.1; P=.011), female gender (HR, 6.86; P=.005), higher pulmonary artery pressure (HR, 1.05; P=.022), and larger left atrial size (HR, 2.11; P=.035). Two patients (0.26%) who had undergone initial MVr required reoperation for late functional TR. Another 2 patients had had the tricuspid valve addressed concurrent with reoperation for MVr failure. No tricuspid reoperations were required in the MVR group.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of TR progression was low after MVr or MVR for MV prolapse. Timely MV surgery before the development of left atrial dilatation or pulmonary hypertension could further decrease the risk of TR progression during follow-up.

Tricuspid valve surgery

INTRODUCTION

The tricuspid valve has been taken as a non-critical valve in terms of acute or late mortality in a number of conditions. Tricuspid functional regurgitation is a cause of late operations with an increased morbidity. A number of techniques have been described and used in clinical practice in the past forty years and include simple suture techniques and the use of support for annuloplasty with the use of different types of prosthetic rings. The experience accumulated over the years indicates that tricuspid annuloplasty is mandatory to improve late results, which are superior, in general, to replacement of the valve.

METHODS

The role of echocardiography in defining surgical planning, intraoperative results and follow-up is reviewed as echocardiography is a fundamental tool in cardiac surgery. Surgery for isolated lesions of the tricuspid valve has not received much attention and herein we report the results of the follow-up of a limited series of patients undergoing isolated tricuspid surgery.

RESULTS

The correlation between echocardiographic measurements and surgical measurements was confirmed and was helpful at the time of the confirmation of repair (r=0.53). Forty-seven patients (18 repair, 29 replacement) underwent isolated surgery. Results of isolated tricuspid repair seemed to be superior when compared to those of tricuspid replacement. Survival was 20.7% for tricuspid valve replacement (N=18) and 50% for tricuspid valve repair (N=29) (p=0.04). Freedom from reoperation was 94.4±5.4% for repair and 67.3±12.1% for replacement (p= 0.0011).

CONCLUSIONS

The tricuspid valve continues to be a surgical challenge.