Mitral valve replacement and tricuspid valve repair after cardiac transplantation

Efforts aimed at limiting the pool of cardiac retransplantation candidates have focused increasingly on attempts to preserve cardiac allograft function. The present report reviews the course of a patient who underwent mitral valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty for bivalvular incompetence after cardiac transplantation and examines the limited reported world experience with valve replacement after transplantation. The limited yet successful experiences with these and other operations in cardiac allograft recipients suggest that worsening donor organ shortages will likely lead to increased clinical experience with conventional operations in the transplanted heart. (C) 1997 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.