Tricuspid regurgitation

[kitty954]

I have been diagnosed with tricuspid regurgitation and wondered how can this condition be treated.  I am now 44 and was diagnosed at 42.  I guess I have had it most of my life.

[tnman]

I'm 53 and was recently diagnosed with isolated severe tricuspid regurgitation, and congestive hepatopathy. Heart cath and trans echo show healthy heart otherwise and they indicated it looked like a congenital issue with septal leaflet not properly closing. Also, no apparent liver fibrosis/cirrohsis from abdomen MRI. I'm virtually asymtomatic other than tiring sooner than I probably should when running. No pulmonary hypertension either.  How are surgeons evaluating cases like mine where I appear to be a borderline surgery candidate (by borderline, I mean I'm not quite to the fully symtomatic stage yet)???  I'm just concerned where this leads regarding right heart failure, liver issues, etc. if the regurgitation is not corrected.  

[CCF CCF]

Tricuspid regurgitation rarely needs to be treated.  In fact, it is a very common finding on echocardiograms even in patients with normal hearts and no cardiac disease.  If this was an incidental finding it is unlikely that you need to do anything further unless your physician suggest otherwise.

[ed34]

yes they can thicken and calcify, in other words become diseased. However medication can help. Sometimes if high blood pressure has existed for a long time, the atria can enlarge and cause the valves to go out of shape. Bringing the blood pressure back to normal in many cases results in the valves working much better.
With regards to your Doctors, they are correct. I just ask you to think about it and put yourself in their shoes. If your valves are not life threatening, would you want to operate on someone with the chance of losing them? Yes the risks are much lower these days for surgery, but it is still a risk. I'm not sure you should get symptoms when they are 'mild' leaks? usually it's moderate to severe. Perhaps you are on a medication which is causing you to feel symptoms?

[kitty954]

I just found out that with an echocardiogram that I have a mild pulmonic valve
leak and a moderate tricuspid valve leak as of 2013.  In 2011, the echocardiogram showed that I have tricuspid regurgitation and now a new diagnosis of a mild pulmonic regurgitation, murmur, and now the tricuspid regurgitation has gone from moderate to mild as of now.  Can the valves change from moderate to severe and vis versa?  I also had pulmonary hypertension with the 2011 study and now it has improved according to this new study.  I still suffer from all the symptoms of the leaky valves.  In December of 2011, the doctors put me on simvastatiin and I was officially put on oxygen in 2012 of March due to my saturation of 85% at night.  How do I approach my heart doctors about all this and can they do something for me besides just saying that they will watch, wait, and see?

[Hana2106]

Hi, did you get an answer to this? Can it go from moderate to mild?