Surgical strategy for severe tricuspid valve regurgitation complicated by advanced mitral valve disease: Long-term outcome of tricuspid valve supra-annular implantation in eighty-eight cases

Abstract

Objective: Although annuloplasty has been the most commonly performed surgical modality for severe tricuspid regurgitation, tricuspid valve supra-annular implantation has been performed in our hospital for more than a decade. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term outcome of tricuspid valve supra-annular implantation in a subgroup of patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation, those who also had advanced mitral valve disease. Methods: Mitral valve replacement in conjunction with tricuspid valve supra-annular implantation was performed on 88 patients at our hospital between 1984 and 1998. The patients (mean age 57 ± 11 years) were followed up for an average of 7.2 ± 4.5 years after the operation (range 0-14 years); total follow-up was 643.1 patient-years. All patients except 2 (97.6%) were included in the follow-up. We evaluated the mortality, the cause of death, survival, the freedom from structural valve deterioration and reoperation, postoperative complications, and long-term echocardiographic findings. Results: Overall survival at 14 years was 69% ± 7.7%. Freedom from structural valve deterioration at 14 years was 100% and from reoperation, 88% ± 9.4%. There were no instances of pulmonary thromboembolism or of complications associated with fatal arrhythmias. Echocardiography showed little residual tricuspid regurgitation, no atrophic and stenotic change in the native tricuspid valve, and no thrombus formation between native valve and the implanted bioprosthesis. Conclusions: The procedure's simplicity, the good long-term durability of the bioprosthesis, and the absence of fatal arrhythmias and pulmonary thromboembolism indicate that tricuspid valve supra-annular implantation is a useful procedure for patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation complicated by advanced mitral valve disease.