Tricuspid Regurgitation - Severe

This is an example of severe tricuspid regurgitation which is caused by degeneration of the tricuspid valve leaflets. The first heart sound is normal. The second heart sound is unsplit. There is a loud, rectangular, pansystolic murmur. There is a brief, rumbling, diamond-shaped diastolic murmur. In the anatomy video you can see the enlarged right atrium and right ventricle. You can see the turbulent blood flow from the right ventricle into the right atrium. This is the systolic murmur. You can see the brief turbulent blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle in diastole. This is caused by too much blood in the right atrium which forces blood back into the ventricle during diastole producing the flow rumble. To differentiate tricuspid regurgitation from mitral regurgitation, the maximum intensity of the tricuspid murmur is heard at the left lower sternal border. In addition, the murmur intensity increases with inspiration.

Auscultation Sounds

Patient Recording

Patient Recording - Half Speed Playback

Position

The patient's position should be supine.

Listening Tips

Systole:Loud, pan-systolic murmur, louder during inspiration
Diastole:Brief, rumbling diamond shaped murmur may follow pan-systolic murmur in some cases

Waveform (Phonocardiogram)

Observe

//embedding heart animation

Review the animation. Observe the enlarged right atrium and right ventricle. You can see the turbulent blood flow from the right ventricle into the right atrium. This is the systolic murmur. Notice the brief turbulent blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle in diastole. This is caused by too much blood in the right atrium which forces blood back into the ventricle during diastole producing the flow rumble. To differentiate tricuspid regurgitation from mitral regurgitation, the maximum intensity of the tricuspid murmur is heard at the left lower sternal border. In addition, the murmur intensity increases with inspiration.

Authors

These authors contributed the audio recordings and text found in this reference guide: Jon Keroes, MD,Diane Wrigley, PA, and David Lieberman.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Barbara Erickson, PhD, RN, CCRN.

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