Endoscopic Tricuspid Valve Surgery is a Safe and Effective Option

Isolated tricuspid surgery through median sternotomy can be associated with a high morbidity and mortality. Reports of minimally invasive isolated tricuspid valve operations are rare, but the outcomes are encouraging. We present our experience of endoscopic isolated tricuspid valve surgery.

In our institution, 452 patients underwent endoscopic minimal access cardiac surgery between August 2008 and December 2018. A total of 90 patients underwent tricuspid valve surgery whether isolated or with other cardiac procedure. We further selected patients who had isolated tricuspid valve surgery (n = 24). Of these patients, 13 (54%) had more than one previous sternotomy.

Tricuspid repair was performed in 18 patients (75%) with the remaining 6 (25%) having bioprosthetic tricuspid replacement. Three (12.5%) were performed with a beating heart, the remaining with endoaortic clamping and cardioplegia. There were no conversions to sternotomy. None of the patients had reoperation for bleeding, tamponade, or valve issues. Three patients (12.5%) required blood transfusion, 3 patients (12.5%) required renal dialysis, and 7 patients (29%) had respiratory complications such as chest infection, requiring continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) with 2 being re-intubated. One patient (4.1%) died within 30 days from chest sepsis leading to multi-organ failure. Mean hospital stay was 11.1 ± 8.9 days (median of 8). All patients had mild or less regurgitation on follow-up echo at 6 months.

Isolated tricuspid valve surgery can be performed through an endoscopic minimally access approach, with good results. It appears to provide better results than a sternotomy approach. A high repair rate can be achieved, and the procedure is particularly valuable in redo-surgery with low mortality and morbidity compared to historical sternotomy case series.