Valve interstitial cells (VICs) are responsible for maintaining the structural integrity and dynamic behaviour of the valve. Telocytes (TCs), a peculiar type of interstitial cells, have been recently identified by Popescu's group in epicardium, myocardium and endocardium (visit www.telocytes.com). The presence of TCs has been identified in atria, ventricles and many other tissues and organ, but...

Presented is a case of a young, polytoxicomaniac male with a history of intravenous drug abuse. He arrived at our department in a septic state with fever and showed signs of right-sided decompensated cardiac insufficiency. The patient tested positive for hepatitis C, and blood cultures were positive for Staphylococcus aureus. A thoracic computed tomographic scan revealed bilateral, multiple sep...

UNLABELLED SummaryWe present a very rare example of chronic right heart failure caused by torrent tricuspid regurgitation. Massive right heart dilatation and severe tricuspid regurgitation due to avulsion of the tricuspid valve apparatus occurred as a result of a blunt chest trauma following the explosion of a gas bottle 20 years before admission, when the patient was a young man in Vietnam. Af...

Currently, there are no fully developed interventional approaches for the treatment of tricuspid regurgitation (TR). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of orthotopic interventional placement of a biological prosthetic valve in the tricuspid position by inserting, with a transvenous approach, a self-expandable valve-bearing stent into the right atrium. Based on findings of com...

PATIENT Female, 62 FINAL DIAGNOSIS: Tricuspid regurgitation Symptoms: Dyspnea exertional • fatigue • leg edema MEDICATION - Clinical Procedure: - Specialty: Cardiology. OBJECTIVE Challenging differential diagnosis. BACKGROUND Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) can mimic some hemodynamic findings of constrictive pericarditis (CP), due to the restraining effect of the enlarged right heart on inta...

The role of valve replacement in the treatment of Ebstein's anomaly of the tricuspid valve remains controversial. Since 1965, eight patients with Ebstein's anomaly ranging in age from seven to 22 years of age (mean 13 years) have undergone tricuspid valve replacement (TVR) in our institution. Seven were in functional class 3 or 4 (NYHA), while one was in class 2, but had an increase in cardiac ...

BACKGROUND Surgical treatment of tricuspid valve endocarditis (TVE) ranges from vegetectomy to valve replacement with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), accompanied by risks of systemic and lung complications. We present our experience with tricuspid valve vegetectomy under inflow occlusion without CPB. METHODS Between July 1998 and July 2001, seven patients with a mean age of 26 years ...

In patients suffering with chronic valvular disease who are diagnosed as having mitral stenosis, there are found a few who have an associated tricuspid stenosis. The diagnosis of this combination of lesions is difficult. The unique opportunity to study the hemodynamics of "pure" tricuspid stenosis was presented when a patient, originally diagnosed as mitral stenosis, had in fact both lesions, a...

A newborn is described in whom the use of a central venous line was complicated by septicaemia and by intracardiac thrombus formation with tricuspid valve insufficiency and heart failure. Besides antibiotics, treatment consisted of tissue type plasminogen activator (tPA) for three days. This treatment resulted in the disappearance of the thrombus and the tricuspid insufficiency. No adverse effe...