Systolic tricuspid leaflet prolapse in asymptomatic young men

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The degree of systolic movement of the tricuspid valve (TV) leaflets was measureds in 100 consecutive apparently healthy men 18-20 years old at the time of maximum posterosuperior motion toward or into the right atrium. Backward bowing of >0.20 mm2 of the anterior leaflet, and >0.15 mm2 of either the posterior or septal leaflets beyond the plane of the tricuspid annulus was found in 5% or less of the cohort irrespective of the echocardiographic view in which it was recorded. The upper 5% of these young men had >0.80 mm2 of backward bowing when the leaflet motion was summed from all three views. The anterior leaflet demonstrated more bowing than either the septal or posterior leaflets. The systolic TV prolapse area correlated highly with the degree of mitral leaflet prolapse (r=0.654, p<0.001). We conclude that there is a wide continuous spectrum of tricuspid valve leaflet prolapse area in healthy young men. This quantitative approach may help standardize the echocardiographic evaluation of tricuspid leaflet motion.