Prognostic Usefulness of Tricuspid Annular Diameter for Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Tricuspid Regurgitation of Moderate to Severe Degree

Abstract

Functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is frequently encountered. Current guidelines recommend the surgical correction of severe TR only at the time of left valve surgery despite emphasizing the enlarged tricuspid annulus (TA) dimension. We attempted to evaluate the relation between TA dimension and clinical outcomes of moderate or severe TR. A total of 213 patients (mean age 68 years, women 68%) with moderate or severe TR secondary to left-sided valve surgery, nonvalvular disease, or isolated primary TR were retrospectively identified and classified into tertiles of TA dimension. Cardiovascular (CV) outcomes were defined as a composite of hospitalization for worsening heart failure (HF), stroke, and CV death over a median follow-up of 3.4 years. Upper and lower tertiles of TA dimension had high frequencies of left-sided valve surgery and isolated primary TR, respectively. TA dimension was correlated with TR severity assigned as color Doppler grade and systolic tissue Doppler imaging of the tricuspid valve (TDI s'). During follow-up, there were 87 (41%) occurrences of primary outcomes: 65 HFs (31%), 13 CV deaths (6%), and 9 strokes (4%). There was a high frequency of adverse outcomes in the upper tertile. TA dimension and TDI s' were independently related to outcomes. An enlarged TA dimension was associated with outcomes irrespective of subgroups according to type or severity of TR and TDI s' (p = 0.21, p = 0.77, p = 0.15 for interaction). A cut-off value of 4.0 cm for TA dimension was best for CV event occurrence. When assessing clinical CV outcomes, TA dimension should be considered, even in moderate TR.