Tricuspid regurgitation, often called tricuspid insufficiency, is a condition where the tricuspid valve in the heart doesn’t close properly. This allows blood to leak backward from the right ventricle into the right atrium each time the heart beats. To understand what causes this problem, it helps to first picture how a healthy tricuspid valve works.
## How the Tricuspid Valve Normally Functions
The tricuspid valve sits between the right atrium and right ventricle of your heart. Its job is to make sure blood flows in one direction—from the atrium into the ventricle—when your heart relaxes (diastole), and then closes tightly when your heart contracts (systole) so that blood doesn’t flow backward. The valve has three flaps, or leaflets, which open and close with each heartbeat.
## Primary vs. Secondary Tricuspid Regurgitation
There are two main ways things can go wrong: primary (intrinsic) problems with the valve itself, and secondary (functional) problems caused by other issues in or around your heart.
### Primary Tricuspid Regurgitation
Primary means there’s something wrong with the actual structure of the tricuspid valve or its supporting parts—the leaflets, chordae tendineae (the “strings” that anchor them), or papillary muscles.
**Common Causes:**
– **Congenital Heart Defects:** Some people are born with abnormalities of their tricuspid valve. For example, Ebstein’s anomaly is a rare birth defect where parts of the valve are malformed and displaced downward into
