title: Late results of triple valve replacement: a 14-year review.
abstract: Forty-eight patients have undergone simultaneous triple valve replacement at our institution over the past 14 years. This series was reviewed as a baseline for comparison with more recent tricuspid valve reparative procedures and to assess the natural history of advanced rheumatic heart disease with surgically corrected valvular lesions. Survival was 81% at one month and 32% at 14 years, not significantly different from results with double valve replacement during the same period, and not related to whether the tricuspid involvement was organic or functional. Forty-three percent of the late deaths were clearly valve related, a percentage which would undoubtedly be lowered with currently available prostheses. Functional class was determined in 13 of the 17 current survivors (mean follow-up, 10.3 years), and was improved over preoperative functional class in all but 3 patients. Three patients died of progressive congestive heart failure despite normally functioning prostheses; the reasons for these deaths are open to speculation.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D012214:Rheumatic Heart Disease / Q000601:surgery; D014261:Tricuspid Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D014262:Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency / Q000601:surgery