Postoperative Results of Patients Undergoing Minimally Invasive Tricuspid Valve Procedure

Video-assisted minimally invasive (MIC) tricuspid valve repair or replacement through right minithoracotomy offers a less invasive option for the treatment of tricuspid valve insufficiency compared with conventional sternotomy approach.We present our postoperative results regarding the two different surgical approaches.From 2017 to 2021, 180 patients underwent isolated or combined tricuspid valve procedures in our heart center, either through median sternotomy (n = 152, group 1) or via MIC approach (n = 28, group 2). Mean age was 68 ± 11 years in group 1 and 69 ± 11 years in group 2. A propensity matching analysis was performed comparing 21 patients from each group. The majority of the patients in both groups received tricuspid valve repair (90% in unmatched group 1 and 79% in unmatched group 2). Tricuspid valve replacement was performed in 10% of group 1 versus 21% of group 2. The 30-day mortality was higher in matched group 1 patients (14%) in comparison to matched group 2 patients (5%; odds ratio [OR] = 3.00; [0.31, 28.84]; p = 0.341). Mean required packed red blood cells was 9.43 ± 11.79 units in group 1, respectively, 3.57 ± 4.75 units in group 2 (OR = 1.12; [0.98, 1.29]; p = 0.099). Postoperative echocardiography revealed excellent tricuspid valve function in both matched groups.Video-assisted minimally invasive (MIC) tricuspid valve repair or replacement through right mini-thoracotomy is a good alternative to sternotomy approach. Our postoperative results demonstrate that MIC approach is safe and feasible.