Utility of concomitant tricuspid valve procedures for patients undergoing implantation of a continuous-flow left ventricular device.

Objective: Patients referred for implantable continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (cfLVAD) frequently have preoperative right heart failure and tricuspid regurgitation (TR). The objective of this report is to examine early clinical benefits of concomitant tricuspid surgery for these patients.
Methods: Sixty-one of 200 consecutive cfLVAD patients at our institution displayed preimplant right heart dysfunction and significant TR. Thirty-three underwent cfLVAD plus a tricuspid valve procedure (TVP), and 28 had cfLVAD alone. Preimplant characteristics and clinical outcomes were retrospectively studied. As previously described, post-LVAD right ventricular failure was defined as need for right ventricular assist device (RVAD) support or greater than 14 days of intravenous inotropic support.
Results: Preimplant characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. Cardiopulmonary bypass time was increased for the group that received concomitant TVPs. The most common TVP consisted of an undersizing ring annuloplasty. The cfLVAD-alone group had greater TR after implant relative to the cfLVAD+TVP group. The cfLVAD-alone group experienced greater postprocedure right ventricular failure relative to cfLVAD+TVP (46.4% vs 18.2%; P < .05). Furthermore, prolonged hospitalization was increased for the cfLVAD-alone group versus the cfLVAD+TVP. Survival was similar between the 2 groups.
Conclusions: Concomitant TVP appears to reduce postprocedure right ventricular failure for patients with significant TR undergoing cfLVAD implantation.
(Copyright © 2012 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)