An Unguarded Tricuspid Valve Orifice Diagnosed by Autopsy

Abstract

Introduction: Fetal unguarded tricuspid valve orifice (UTVO) is characterized by a complete or partial absence of the tricuspid valvular tissue or sub-valvular apparatus and only case reports are available at present. We report a UTVO diagnosed by fetal autopsy. Case report: An 18-week fetus was diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound with tricuspid dysplasia with ‘to-and-fro’ flow across the right-sided heart. Fetal autopsy showed partial agenesis of tricuspid valve instead of valvular dysplasia. This supported a diagnosis of UTVO. Conclusion: Fetal autopsy can differentiate UTVO form other valve abnormalities. The ‘to-and-fro’ flow pattern across the right atrioventricular orifice could be used to differentiate UTVO from other valve dysplasias on echocardiography.

Keywords:

• Unguarded tricuspid orifice
• fetus
• echocardiography
• autopsy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U21A20523), National Natural Science Foundation of China (82170301), and Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Incubating Program (PX2022026).