Tricuspid valve replacement with the St. Jude Medical valve: 19 years of experience.

OBJECTIVE: The choice of the valve substitute in the tricuspid position remains controversial. A St. Jude Medical valve is a choice of valve substitute and its lower thrombogenicity and excellent hemodynamic performance have been reported even in the tricuspid position. However, little is known of the long-term durability of the St. Jude Medical valve in the tricuspid position. Our long-term experience of tricuspid valve replacement showed the higher thrombogenicity than we had expected, therefore, this study was done to reconsider our strategy for valve choice.

METHODS: This study reviewed 23 patient who underwent 25 tricuspid valve replacements with the St. Jude Medical valves from 1980 to 1997. The mean age was 40 years. Eleven patients (48%) were men. There were four in-hospital deaths (17%). The remaining 19 patients were all alive and followed from 2.2 to 19.0 years (mean 11.8 years).

RESULTS: The overall survival, including hospital mortality, was 83%, 10 and 15 years after surgery. Valve thrombosis occurred in six patients. Freedom from valve thrombosis was 78 and 70%, 10 and 15 years after surgery, respectively. The linearized rate of the valve thrombosis was 2.9%/patient-years. Six patients required reoperation. The mean interval to reoperation was 9.5 years. Freedom from reoperation was 83% and 75%, 10 and 15 years after surgery, respectively. The linearized rate of the reoperation was 2.8%/patient-years. No structural valve deterioration was found. Echocardiographic study showed that the function of the St. Jude Medical valve without valve-related complications was well maintained.

CONCLUSIONS: The higher thrombogenicity of the St. Jude Medical valve in the tricuspid position altered our choice of valve substitutes from the St. Jude Medical valve to a bioprosthesis which is lack of need for anticoagulant therapy except for juvenile patients who are able to maintain potent anticoagulant therapy.