Right sided heart evaluation after successful mitral valve replacement.

Introduction: It is well-documented that right-sided heart dysfunction and significant tricuspid valve regurgitation (TVR) have adverse effects on patient outcomes after left-sided heart valve surgery. Therefore, the evaluation of right ventriclular (RV) function and TR severity in patients who had undergone mitral valve replacement (MVR), associated with/without concomitant surgery on tricuspid valve, could be helpful for deciding on the necessity of concomitant tricuspid valve intervention before surgery. Materials and Methods: A total of222 patients with MVR for rheumatic disease were evaluated in our Echocardiography Lab in Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, within 2013-2018. The patients were divided into four groups, according to their type of concomitant TVR. The subjects (n=11) with concomitant indications for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or history of coronary artery disease were excluded from the study. Results: Significant (at least moderate) TVR was found in 60% of the patients. All patients with rheumatic tricuspid valve had significant TVR. After excluding the patients with significant pulmonary hypertension, there was no difference in the prevalence of significant TR, between the patients with tricuspid valve repair and those without any intervention on tricuspid valve (P=0.178). Furthermore, no difference was observed between the patients with/without any intervention on tricuspid valve considering RV size and function. Conclusion: In patients with left valve surgery concomitant with TR, tricuspid valve repair and replacement could preserve RV size and function, for a long time. During the correction of the left-side valvulopathy, it seems rational to adopt more interventional consideration for patients with tricuspid valve regurgitation, especially those with rheumatic tricuspid valve involvement.