What is Tricuspid Valve Regurgitation?

Tricuspid Valve Regurgitation starts when one or more of the three valve leaflets fail to shut effectively .

Luckily , most regurgitating tricuspid valves require no treatment. They do not progress to the acute symptomatic stages.

However, less often, pacemaker and defibrillator lead extraction complications can cause severe regurgitation of the tricuspid valve. The leads can become caught in the valve leaflets, or they can, over time, stick to one of the leaflets.

When the lead or leads are extracted, the valve can be severely damaged necessitating open heart surgery. In such cases, a valve replacement surgery is often required.

Many times the damage to the valve can go unnoticed till the patient becomes severely symptomatic. Frequently tricuspid regurgitation ( TR ) patients experience neck pulsations and sometimes, depending on the scale of the regurgitation, huge bulbous areas can be seen in the neck veins.

Other symptoms can be quick progression of weakness to the point of trouble in standing ; fluid retention in the gut, legs, and lower extremities; lack of breath; fainting; atrial fibrillation or flutter; and even congestive cardiac arrest.

If you start to experience any of these symptoms, get yourself to your health practitioner or emergency clinic. After taking your history, your GP will listen to your heart with a stethoscope. If you have heavy valve leakage, a murmur can be heard.

You will , very likely, be referred to a cardiologist, a doctor concentrating on heart aberrations and sicknesses. The cardiologist has an entire battery of tests at his disposal to help her establish precisely what is wrong with your heart.

the most important test for diagnosing heart valve regurgitation is an echocardiogram (heart echo). A chest x-ray and electrocardiogram ( EKG ) could also be used first to determine if signs of a leaking valve are present. If they are present, echocardiography is mostly ordered to approve the diagnosis.

If it is determined that you need valve surgery, the chances are overwhelmingly in your favor. Globally, some 250,000 heart valve surgeries are performed every year.

If you would like to follow my day by day journey, what helped what hurt, before and after my tricuspid valve surgery, be certain to check out my blog and leave your comments about your own experiences.

You'll find the 78 interesting stories of other patients who have undergone heart valve replacement and went on to live productive lives. Learn the tips and techniques that made their recovery less complicated.