At Penn Medicine, we treat tricuspid valve disease with advanced surgical procedures, often while operating on another heart condition. Our cardiac surgeons perform tricuspid valve replacement and repair using open-chest surgery, minimally invasive alternatives and cutting-edge robotic-assisted surgery when possible.
Patients living with tricuspid valve disease that come to Penn have access to the latest advancements in cardiac surgical care. As the largest Heart Valve Disease Program in the region with nationally recognized heart surgeons, we complete more valve surgeries than any other Pennsylvania hospital.
What Is the Tricuspid Valve’s Function?
The tricuspid valve is one of four heart valves that direct blood flow into and out of your heart. Specifically, the function of the tricuspid valve, also called the right atrioventricular valve, is to control the flow of blood from your heart’s top chamber (right atrium) to the bottom chamber (right ventricle). This valve also helps prevent blood from flowing backward into either of these chambers.
When the tricuspid valve is narrowed (stenosis) or leaky (regurgitation), it cannot perform its usual function, risking abnormal blood flow and forcing your heart to work harder to pump blood. Over time, these conditions may require treatment, including a tricuspid valve repair or replacement surgery.
Conditions Treated with Tricuspid Valve Replacement or Repair
If your tricuspid valve disease is severe, your valve may need to be surgically replaced or repaired. Surgery is used to treat many types of valve disease that affect the tricuspid valve, including:
- Tricuspid valve stenosis: The thickening and narrowing of the opening of the tricuspid valve, restricting blood from flowing normally through the valve.
- Tricuspid valve regurgitation (leak): The leaflets (flaps) of the valve do not close properly or tightly enough. This causes blood to flow backwards through the valve into the chamber it came from. This condition is also called valve insufficiency.
To preserve your heart’s function and lower the risk of infection, our expert surgeons repair your tricuspid valve rather than replace it. Whenever possible, we use robotic-assisted surgery for these procedures. Your cardiac team determines the right type of tricuspid valve surgery for you based on your heart structure, additional heart conditions, age and general health.
Tricuspid Valve Repair
When possible, our cardiac surgeons will surgically repair your tricuspid valve. Minimally invasive heart surgery, including robotic surgery, is a surgical option for tricuspid repair. Depending on your diagnosis, your repair may include:
- Ring annuloplasty: To correct tricuspid regurgitation, the surgeon tightens the valve by sewing a ring (made of metal, cloth or tissue) around it.
- Commissurotomy: By separating or cutting fused valve flaps (called cusps or leaflets), the surgeon opens a narrowed (stenotic) valve.
- Valve flap repair: The surgeon corrects your tricuspid valve flaps by trimming, patching or reshaping them so that they close tightly.
Tricuspid Valve Replacement
Your doctor may recommend surgery to replace your tricuspid valve if repair is not an option. During either minimally invasive or open-chest surgery, your surgeon removes the diseased tricuspid valve and replaces it with either:
- Mechanical valve: This man-made valve can last as long as 30 years. You will need to take lifelong blood-thinning medications to prevent blood clots with a mechanical valve.
- Biological valve: This type of valve (made from cow, pig or human heart tissue) lasts 10 to 20 years.
What Happens During Tricuspid Valve Surgery?
Tricuspid valve surgery at Penn takes place in state-of-the-art operating rooms. An expert cardiac anesthesiologist administers general anesthesia to keep you comfortable. During your cardiac surgery, your surgeon:
- Uses a heart-lung bypass machine to keep your blood pumping through your body during the procedure.
- Makes several smaller incisions in your chest (for minimally invasive surgery) or one longer incision in the right part of your chest near the breastbone (for traditional, open-chest surgery).
- Repairs or replaces your damaged tricuspid valve. They can also correct other heart conditions at the same time if you are undergoing complex tricuspid valve surgery.
- Removes you from the bypass machine, ensures your heart is functioning correctly and closes your incision.
Recovery After Tricuspid Valve Repair and Replacement
Your recovery time depends on whether you had minimally invasive or open-chest surgery. Less invasive procedures typically require less recovery time and you’ll return to daily activities more quickly. Most people can return to normal activity within three to four months.
Immediately following surgery, our cardiac care team will move you to a post-operative recovery room in the cardiac intensive care unit (ICU). After a night or so of observation and recovery assistance there, you will be moved to a general hospital unit to continue recovering from your tricuspid valve surgery before being cleared to return home (usually the following morning). Before you leave, your doctor will provide you with aftercare guidelines — for incision site care, nutrition and exercise limitations and pain management — so that you or your loved ones know the proper care to take.
Following any type of heart surgery, your doctor may recommend cardiac rehabilitation. Our outpatient program provides post-surgery support through exercise plans, nutrition guidance and heart health education.
Request an Appointment
To make an appointment, please call 800-789-7366 or request a callback.