Tricuspid and Pulmonic Valves

Abstract

Imaging of the tricuspid valve in real-time 3D TEE produces consistently suboptimal results. The reasons for this substantial failure are (a) the oblique plane of the valve in relation to the ultrasound pyramidal beams and (b) the thinness of the leaflets that makes it difficult to find the appropriate gain setting to remove noises but not structures. In Fig. 5.1a, a near perfect image of the base of the heart, seen from the atrial perspective, is obtained. But the image of the tricuspid valve is poor, and unlike the nearby mitral valve, part of the tissue at the base of the leaflets and along their free margins is missing because of the inadequate gain level. However, even a small increase in gain [in Figure 5.1b] causes noise that obscures both the mitral and tricuspid leaflets