Original article
Adult cardiac
Mitral Valve Repair Without Repair of Moderate Tricuspid Regurgitation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2015.05.108Get rights and content

Background

The objective of this study was to assess the fate at long term of mild-to-moderate functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) left untreated at the time of mitral valve repair in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Methods

We selected from our prospective hospital database 84 patients (age, 64 ± 9.6 years; ejection fraction, 0.31 ± 0.064) who underwent mitral repair for secondary mitral regurgitation in whom concomitant mild-to-moderate TR (nonlinear scale 1 to 4+) was left untreated. Tricuspid regurgitation was classified as mild in 61 patients (72.6%) and moderate in 23 patients (27.3%). Annular dilatation itself was not systematically measured and was not used as a trigger for tricuspid annuloplasty. Most of the patients were in New York Heart Association functional class III or IV (56 of 84; 66.7%).

Results

At a median follow-up of 7.3 years (interquartile range, 4.5 to 9.3), 17 patients (20.2%) had moderate-to-severe TR and 21 patients (25%) showed a progression of at least two grades of their untreated preoperative TR. Freedom from moderate-to-severe TR or from progression of at least two grades of the baseline TR was 77% ± 5% at 5 years and 56.7% ± 8.4% at 10 years. Multivariate analysis identified preoperative right ventricular dysfunction (hazard ratio, 7.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.8 to 23; p = 0.001) and age (hazard ratio, 1; 95% confidence interval, 1.0 1.1; p = 0.03) as independent predictors of TR worsening.

Conclusions

A significant number of dilated cardiomyopathy patients with mild-to-moderate TR left untreated at the time of mitral repair show important TR at follow-up. In this setting, a more aggressive policy should be used taking into consideration the degree of annular dilatation and the function of the right ventricle and not simply the grade of TR.

Section snippets

Study Population

Two hospital databases (San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, and Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio, Massa, Italy) were used to select 84 patients with severe secondary MR and concomitant less than severe functional TR. All patients underwent MV repair between 1999 and 2008, and the associated functional TR was left untreated. Patients with primary or degenerative MR, acute MR caused by papillary muscle rupture, concomitant left ventricular (LV) reconstruction or aortic valve surgery, residual

Clinical and Echocardiographic Data

Follow-up was obtained for all patients between December 1, 2013, and March 1, 2014. The study population comprised 84 patients. Mean age was 64 ± 9.6 years, and all patients had severe secondary MR and significant LV dysfunction (ejection fraction, 0.31 ± 0.064). New York Heart Association functional class III or IV was present in 56 of 84 patients (66.5%; Table 1). Concomitant TR was classified as absent or mild in 61 patients (72.6%) and moderate in 23 patients (27.3%) and was left untreated.

Comment

The main finding of this study is that in DCM patients undergoing mitral repair for secondary MR, a preoperative condition of less than moderately severe TR, left untreated, may progress over the course of years in a significant proportion of patients. Therefore, deciding whether or not to perform a concomitant tricuspid annuloplasty at the time of MV surgery simply on the basis of the grade of TR should be avoided, particularly in the setting of functional MR. Current guidelines recommend

Cited by (20)

  • Progression of Tricuspid Regurgitation After Surgery for Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation

    2021, Journal of the American College of Cardiology
    Citation Excerpt :

    Matsunaga and Duran (7) observed ≥moderate TR in >50% of patients at 1 to 3 years after MV repair for IMR. Other groups report ≥moderate TR at 5 years after IMR surgery in 31% of patients with baseline trace or mild TR (8), or TR progression of at least 2 TR grades in 25% of patients ∼7 years after surgery for secondary MR (66% ischemic etiology) (9). TR severity, however, can be dynamic and load dependent (20), and retrospective database analyses predispose toward capturing sicker patients in a decompensated state, when seeking medical advice or at hospital admission.

  • Severity of tricuspid regurgitation is associated with long-term mortality

    2018, Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
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    Unfortunately, both significant uncorrected TR and reoperation for TR are associated with increased mortality.11,17-20 Consequently, several authors have suggested that in the context of left-sided valve surgery, surgical correction of mild and moderate TR may be considered to prevent future progression.11,14,16,21,22 The most recent American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines have evolved to include indications for surgical intervention on the TV for less than severe grades of TR.

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