Acute Repair of Traumatic Tricuspid Valve Regurgitation Aided by Three-Dimensional Echocardiography

Abstract

A 54 year-old man without prior cardiac history was involved in a motor vehicle accident. His heart rate was 100/min and blood pressure 128/78. mmHg. He complained of anterior chest pain, and on examination had a loud pan-systolic murmur with no clinical signs of heart failure. Three-dimensional trans-oesophageal echocardiography (3D-TOE) demonstrated partial rupture of the inferior head of the anterior papillary muscle (when 2D-TOE did not), causing severe tricuspid regurgitation. This was successfully repaired. Tricuspid valve insufficiency is a rare, but well documented, complication of blunt chest trauma. The majority of cases of tricuspid regurgitation caused by blunt trauma are diagnos..