Surgical Options to Treat Tricuspid Valve Regurgitation

Tricuspid valve regurgitation (TR) commonly accompanies left-sided heart disease and also other conditions associated with myocardial dysfunction. Further, in a number of other diseases, e.g. infective endocarditis, rhythm disorders necessitating the use of a permanent pacemaker etc., patients may present with isolated TR. Surgery represents the standard of care in many cases with severe TR. However, solid clinical data for most forms of tricuspid valve surgery are yet scarce. Likewise current guidelines concerning tricuspid valve surgery exclusively demonstrate low level of evidence. This work describes currently available techniques of surgical treatment of primary and secondary TR, considering the complexity of the diagnostic and the therapeutic path for the latter form.