TRI-SCORE: a single-Centre validation study

Background and aims: The TRI-SCORE is a recently published risk score for predicting in-hospital mortality in patients undergoing isolated tricuspid valve surgery (ITVS). The aim of this study is to externally validate the ability of the TRI-SCORE in predicting in-hospital and long-term mortality following ITVS. Methods: A retrospective review of our institutional database was carried out to identify all patients undergoing isolated tricuspid valve repair or replacement from March 1997 to March 2021. The TRI-SCORE was calculated for all patients. Discrimination of the TRI-SCORE was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves. Accuracy of the models was tested calculating the Brier score. Finally, a COX regression was employed to evaluate the relationship between the TRI-SCORE value and long-term mortality. Results: A total of 176 patients were identified and the median TRI-SCORE was 3 (1-5). The cut-off value identified for increased risk of isolated ITVS was 5. Regarding in-hospital outcomes, the TRI-SCORE showed high discrimination (area under the curve 0.82), and high accuracy (Brier score 0.054). This score showed also very good performance in predicting long-term mortality (at 10 years HR: 1.47, 95% CI [1.31-1.66], p < 0.001), with high discrimination (area under the curve >0.80 at 1-5 and 10 years) and high accuracy values (Brier score 0.179). Conclusions: This external validation confirm the good performance of the TRI-SCORE in predicting in-hospital mortality. Moreover, the score showed also very good performance in predicting the long-term mortality.