Is a tricuspid annuloplasty ring significantly better than a De Vega's annuloplasty stitch when repairing severe tricuspid regurgitation?

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether tricuspid valve (TV) repair with an annuloplasty ring leads to an improved outcome over a conventional suture annuloplasty for patients with severe tricuspid incompetence. Altogether, 306 papers were found using the reported search, of which 14 presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these papers are tabulated. We found seven studies supporting the use of ring annuloplasty over De Vega's suture annuloplasty. Five studies found no significant difference in outcome between the two techniques. We found only two studies supporting the use of De Vega's suture annuloplasty over ring annuloplasty. Therefore, most of the tabulated studies show good evidence in support of ring annuloplasty compared with De Vega's suture repair for treatment of moderate to severe TV regurgitation. One cohort study identified a 20.4% postoperative failure rate for tricuspid regurgitation (TR) repair and concluded non-application of ring as a predictor for reoperation. One cohort study with a mean follow-up of 17 months reported success rates as high as 97% with ring annuloplasty for TV regurgitation. One large cohort study of 2277 patients with TR who had undergone repair reported a sustained reduction in TR and the rate of recurrence in a 5-year echocardiographic follow-up. One cohort study of 129 patients concluded that ring annuloplasty has the lowest rate of recurrence compared with De Vega's suture repair. An old randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the subject also reported a similar result to the mentioned studies. In contrast, we reviewed one recent study and four older studies and found no significant difference between the two techniques. We reviewed one study that reported De Vega's suture repair as a superior technique to ring annuloplasty. We conclude that there is good evidence supporting ring annuloplasty over conventional De Vega's suture annuloplasty.