Impact of Tricuspid Valve Repair at the Time of Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation on In-hospital Mortality and Outcomes: Insight from the NIS Database

Background The prevalence of tricuspid valve insufficiency (TVI) in advanced stages of heart failure is common. Tricuspid valve repair (TVR) during left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation although a common concomitant procedure, remains a controversial topic. We aimed to investigate the impact of TVR on in-hospital outcomes among patients undergoing LVAD implantation. Methods Using the National Inpatient Database (NIS) we identified patients 18 years and older who underwent LVAD implantation and TVR during the same admission. Baseline characteristics were recorded. Primary outcome was in-hospital all-cause mortality. Multivariate analysis model was used to adjust for statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics between the groups. Results A total of 4687 patients underwent LVAD implantation, of these 472 (10.1%) patients had concomitant TVR. Those who underwent TVR/LVAD were more likely to suffer from atrial fibrillation (44% vs. 30%, p Conclusions Performing TVR at the time of LVAD implantation does not improve in-hospital all-cause mortality and results in heterogenous impact on inpatient outcomes. Prospective studies are needed to further elucidate potential benefits of concomitant TVR at the time of LVAD implantation.