Modified De Vega's annuloplasty for functional tricuspid regurgitation--early and late results

From 1978 through 1987, 321 patients who had functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) associated with mitral or combined mitral and aortic valve disease underwent tricuspid annuloplasty with our modification of the original De Vega's annuloplasty technique. The modified De Vega's annuloplasty consisted of two separate semicircular sutures placed around the anterior and lateral aspect of the tricuspid valve. Preoperatively, 229 (71.3%) of the 321 patients were in New York Heart Association functional class III or IV. There were nineteen early deaths (5.9%), and 15 patients died during a follow-up period of 15 to 126 months (mean follow-up, 26 months). Five patients (1.5%) required reoperation because of biological mitral valve failure and recurrence of mitral stenosis. The severity of TR was evaluated by two-dimensional and pulsed Doppler echocardiography, and was classified on a scale of 0 to Grade 3 according to the maximal distance and the flow pattern of the regurgitant signals in the right atrium. Postoperative echocardiographic evaluation of TR was performed in 121 randomly selected patients late after operation. TR reduced to Grade 1 or less in 107 (88.4%) of the 121 patients after operation. Ninety-six percent of the survivors were in New York Heart Association functional class I or II, postoperatively. The actuarial survival rate for the 321 patients with the modified De Vega's annuloplasty including early deaths was 88.2% at 10 years and the actuarial rate of freedom from reoperation on the tricuspid valve was 97.6%. Our surgical experience indicated that the modified De Vega's annuloplasty, as the method of first choice, is a simple, reliable procedure and resulted in reduction of the severity of TR in 88.4% of the patients with functional TR.