Tricuspid valve surgery in implantable cardiac electronic device-related endocarditis: Repair or replace?

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Clinical Outcomes of Isolated Tricuspid Valve Surgery

Patients with isolated tricuspid valve (TV) disease have poor prognosis with no consensus on their management. Transcatheter TV intervention is emerging as a valid option in patients with prohibitive surgical risk. We analyzed studies of patients who underwent isolated TV surgery to identify the features associated with successful clinical outcomes. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting clinical outcomes of isolated surgical TV intervention, namely TV repair, TV replacement with a bioprosthetic valve (TVR-B), or TV replacement with a mechanical valve (TVR-M). Twenty-seven studies involving 10,478 patients (4,931 TV repair, 3,821 TVR-B, and 1,713 TVR-M) were included. Early mortality occurred in 9% and did not differ between TV surgical approaches. Late mortality was 27% at a median follow-up of 4 (3 to 6) years and was significantly higher for all-TVR (30% vs 25%, rate ratio 1.18, 95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.31, p = 0.004) and TVR-B (28% vs 24%, rate ratio 1.15, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.30, p = 0.02) compared with TV repair. Late mortality did not differ between TVR-B and TVR-M. Across all studies, early complications included bleeding (7.4%), acute kidney injury (18.7%), permanent pacemaker (13.7%), cerebrovascular accidents (1.2%), and infection (8.9%). Late clinical outcomes included reintervention (3.7%), structural valve deterioration (2.4%), valve thrombosis (2.6%), and TV regurgitation recurrence after 1 year (15.0%). In conclusion, in isolated TV surgeries, TV repair has favorable long-term mortality compared with TV replacement. This supports the development and refinement of transcatheter TV repair approaches. Future research is recommended to provide comparative data for various transcatheter TV interventions.

Outcomes of isolated tricuspid valve replacement: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 5,316 patients from 35 studies

BACKGROUND

Transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) is rapidly emerging as a therapeutic option amongst patients with secondary tricuspid regurgitation. Historical data from surgical tricuspid valve replacement (TVR) studies may serve as a benchmark for the development of TTVR trials.

AIMS

The aim of the study was to investigate the early and late outcomes following isolated surgical TVR.

METHODS

Multiple electronic databases were searched to identify studies on isolated surgical TVR. The prespecified primary endpoint was operative mortality; secondary endpoints were early and late outcomes. Overall estimates of proportions and incidence rates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random-effects models. Multiple sensitivity analyses accounting for baseline characteristics, country and the operative period were applied.  Results: A total of 35 studies (5,316 patients) were included in this meta-analysis. The operative period ranged from 1974 to 2019. The overall rate of operative mortality was 12% (95% CI: 9-15), with higher mortality for patients who were operated on before 1995, who had prior cardiac surgeries, or who had liver disease. The most frequent clinical events were pacemaker implantation (10% [95% CI: 6-16]), bleeding (12% [95% CI: 8-17]), acute kidney injury (15% [95% CI: 9-24]) and respiratory complications (15% [95% CI: 12-20]). At follow-up analysis of the bioprosthetic TVR, there was an incidence rate per 100 person-years of 6 (95% CI: 2-13) for death and 8 (95% CI: 5-13) for recurrence of significant tricuspid regurgitation.

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis provides an overview of the historical clinical outcomes following isolated surgical TVR. These findings can support the development of future clinical trials in the tricuspid space by providing thresholds for clinical outcomes.

The New Challenge for Heart Endocarditis: From Conventional Prosthesis to New Devices and Platforms for the Treatment of Structural Heart Disease

Infective endocarditis is a sinister condition with considerable morbidity and mortality. Its relevance in the current era is compounded by the increased use of implanted devices such as replacement valves or cardiac implantable electronic devices. These infections are caused by multiple different bacteria with different virulence, pathogenicity, and antimicrobial resistance. Unlike in native endocarditis, the presence of foreign tissue permits sustenance by inflammatory and thrombotic processes as the artificial surfaces promote inflammatory responses and hypercoagulability. Prevention of these infections has been suggested with the use of homografts in combination with antibiotics. Others have attempted to use "low fouling coats" with little clinical success thus far. The use of antibiotic prophylaxis plays a pivotal part in reducing the incidence of prosthesis-related endocarditis. This remains especially crucial with the increasing use of transcatheter heart valve therapies. The widespread use of cardiac implantable electronic devices such as permanent pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices has also heralded a noticeable increase in cases of infectious endocarditis affecting complex equipment which can be difficult to treat. Multimodality strategies are needed with input from surgeons and cardiologists to ensure treatment is both prompt and successful, tailored to the individual needs of the patients.

The quest for the optimal surgical management of tricuspid valve endocarditis in the current era: a narrative review

Tricuspid valve endocarditis (TVE) is a growing concern with increasing rates and mortality burden. The currently changing etiology, the antibiotic resistance and the raise in iatrogenic causes as with implantable cardiac devices [cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED)], represent a challenge for the management of these patients. The progressively widespread use of CIEDs is adding to the more commonly known intravenous (IV) drug abuse in the list of causes. Treatment strategies include medical therapy alone or surgery. From the surgical standpoint tricuspid valve repair, replacement or the staged procedure of valvectomy as bridge to replacement are available options. Treatment of endocarditis related to implantable device is another expanding field which requires a coordinated action with microbiologists in consideration of the microorganism antibiotic resistance. This review summarizes the currently available evidences on TVE including surgical indications, timing of interventions and technical considerations. The conflicting results of the available observational evidences and the non-unanimous consensus on many aspects of TVE impede to reach a definitive conclusion regarding the best management strategy and demands for randomized studies in this field.