Ring or suture annuloplasty for tricuspid regurgitation? A meta-analysis review

We performed a meta-analysis of early and long-term outcomes after tricuspid repair to compare the results of suture-based and prosthetic ring annuloplasty with the employment of an algorithm that derives the original patient time-to-event data. There was an advantage in early but not in long-term survival with the use of the annuloplasty ring. The freedom from moderate tricuspid regurgitation was significantly better in patients with ring annuloplasty (78.9% ± 5.0% at 15 years vs 60.0% ± 4.2%, log-rank p = 0.0107). The ring annuloplasty is associated to better outcomes, being a protective factor for early mortality and long-term recurrence of tricuspid regurgitation after surgery. © 2014 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.