Objective To explore the evolving strategies and compare perioperative and long-term outcomes of tricuspid valve replacement (TVR) in recent 20 years in our hospital.MethodsBetween 1998 and 2018, the clinical data of 608 patients who underwent TVR at the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. There were 201 males and 407 females, with a median age of 47.0 (36.0, 57.0) years. Patients were divided into a biological tricuspid valve (BTV, n=427) group and a mechanical tricuspid valve (MTV, n=181) group. Propensity score matching was used to balance the baseline difference. Surgical strategy evolving, postoperative and long-term outcomes were analyzed between the two groups.ResultsSince 2008, the usage ratio of biological valves was significantly higher than that of mechanical valves. Seventy-nine (13.0%) patients died in hospital after TVR. Before propensity score matching, the postoperative mortality of the BTV group was higher than that of the MTV group (15.2% vs. 7.7%, P=0.012), and there was no statistical difference between the two groups after matching (10.4% vs. 7.2%, P=0.372). The duration of postoperative ventilator support in the BTV group was longer than that in the MTV group [22.0 (15.0, 37.0) h vs. 19.0 (11.0, 27.0) h, P=0.003], and the incidence of postoperative dialysis and re-thoracotomy exploring for bleeding was higher in the BTV group (8.9 % vs. 2.8%, 9.4% vs. 6.6%, respectively). However, there was no statistical difference in mortality after matching. The median follow-up time of discharged patients was 101.0 (65.0, 147.0) months, ranged from 1 to 265 months, and the follow-up rate was 82.2%. During the follow-up period, there were 101 deaths (19.1%) of whom 68 were from the BTV group and 33 from the MTV group. The survival rates at 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years and 20 years of all patients were 85.0% (95%CI 82.2-87.9), 78.9% (95%CI 75.7-82.4), 71.1% (95%CI 67.3-75.3), 59.7% (95%CI 54.2-65.6) and 51.7% (95%CI 43.3-60.7), and there was no statistical difference between the two groups after matching (P=0.46). The median time of tricuspid valve failure was 84.0 (54.0-111.0) months.ConclusionTVR is associated with high perioperative risks. There is no statistical difference in early mortality and long-term survival between biological and mechanical valve, while patients with mechanical valve has higher risk of re-operation for valve failure. Therefore, the type of prosthetic valve can be selected according to the patients' age, physical condition and the doctors’ experience.