Strategies For Treating Tricuspid Atresia

Tricuspid atresia is a form of congenital heart disease where the heart has an abnormally developed or missing tricuspid valve. In healthy individuals, blood flows into the heart's right atrium through the tricuspid valve, into the right ventricle, then from the right ventricle to the lungs for oxygen, and then into the left atrium. The oxygenated blood then flows into the left ventricle where it is pumped out of the heart and around the body. However, blood in tricuspid atresia patients flows into the right atrium and through a hole into the left atrium rather than through the tricuspid valve. Affected individuals receive some oxygenated blood through a hole between the right and left ventricles or via a ductus arteriosus connecting the pulmonary artery to the aorta. The oxygen-poor blood that never reaches the lungs mixes with oxygenated blood before being pumped throughout the body.