Tricuspid atresia pathophysiology

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Associate Editor-In-Chief: Keri Shafer, M.D. [mailto:kshafer@bidmc.harvard.edu] Priyamvada Singh, MBBS mailto:psingh@perfuse.org

Assistant Editor-In-Chief: Kristin Feeney, B.S. mailto:kfeeney@perfuse.org

Pathophysiology
This defect occurs during prenatal development. Because of the lack of an A-V connection, an atrial septal defect (ASD) must be present to maintain blood flow. Also, since there is a lack of a right ventricle there must be a way to pump blood into the pulmonary arteries, and this is accomplished by a ventricular septal defect (VSD).

Blood is mixed in the left atrium. Because the only way the pulmonary circulation receives blood is through the VSD, a patent ductus arteriosus is usually also formed to increase pulmonary flow.

Caption       = Anterior (frontal) view of the opened heart. White arrows indicate normal blood flow. (Tricuspid valve labeled at bottom left.)