Outcomes of tricuspid valve surgery in patients with significant tricuspid regurgitation and low to intermediate risk

Background: In patients with tricuspid regurgitation (TR), delayed surgical intervention is associated with poor outcomes, particularly in advanced stages. This study aimed to assess whether earlier tricuspid valve (TV) surgery provides a survival benefit in patients with moderate to severe TR who are considered at low to intermediate risk of adverse clinical or surgical outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 10 016 patients diagnosed with moderate to severe TR between 2008 and 2020. Patients were stratified using the the Tricuspid Regurgitation Impact on Outcomes (TRIO) Score (for general health risk) and TRI-SCORE (for perioperative risk). We focused on patients deemed at low or intermediate risk by these scores, comparing the all-cause mortality of those who underwent TV surgery to those managed medically.

Results: Among 8874 patients categorised as low or intermediate risk, 871 (9.8%) underwent TV surgery. Patients in the surgical group were younger and had a higher prevalence of RV enlargement and RV dysfunction compared to those in the medical treatment group. During a mean follow-up of 5.2 years, surgical patients had a lower risk of death (HR 0.38, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.50) compared with medically managed patients after adjusting for confounders. This association persisted in patients who underwent isolated TV surgery. However, the potential for residual confounding in this non-randomised analysis should be considered.

Conclusions: TV surgery was associated with higher survival rates in patients with moderate to severe TR and low to intermediate prognostic risk. However, the observational nature of the study means that uncontrolled confounding cannot be excluded. These findings warrant further investigation in randomised studies.