Anatomic Consideration of Stitch Depth in Tricuspid Valve Annuloplasty.
BACKGROUND
The durability of De Vega's tricuspid valve annuloplasty might be related to tension of the annulus and could be reinforced by increasing stich depth. However, depth of stitches to date has not been addressed in the literature. Thus, it is important to better understand the anatomical distance between the tricuspid valve annulus and the right coronary artery.


METHODS
From 1998 to 2009, we measured the distances between TV annulus and RCA (TRD) on 46 explanted human hearts during heart transplantation. Five points were measured from the anterior/septal leaflet commissure to the posterior/septal leaflet commissure clockwise. Statistical significance was tested in the analyses.


RESULTS
We found the TRD were independent from sex, age, body weight, and etiology. With a minimum of 10 mm at the posterior/septal leaflet commissure, the distances increased counterclockwise to the maximum of 20 mm at the anterior/septal leaflet commissure.


CONCLUSIONS
Stitch depth within 10 millimeter will not injure the right coronary artery in making De Vega's tricuspid annuloplasty.


BACKGROUND
De Vega's tricuspid valve annuloplasty.
Heart Center, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yung-Tsai
YT
Lee
Heart Center, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chung-Yi
CY
Chang
Heart Center, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Jeng
J
Wei