Tricuspid atresia

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Definition

Congenital heart defects are problems in the heart present at birth. Tricuspid atresia is a rare congenital heart defect in which there's no valve between two of the heart's four chambers — the upper and lower right chambers. In addition, the lower right chamber is very small.

If your baby is born with tricuspid atresia, blood cannot flow from the body through the heart and into the lungs to pick up oxygen as it normally would. Because the path through the right side of the heart is blocked, blood flow to the lungs is dependent on holes in the walls between the heart's right and left sides.

As a result of tricuspid atresia, the lungs usually don't receive enough blood to supply the rest of the body with the oxygen it needs. This can cause shortness of breath and make babies who have tricuspid atresia tire easily.

Surgery to restore normal blood flow to the lungs is necessary in children with tricuspid atresia. Often, this requires several procedures in the child's first three or four years of life. With advances in care over the last several decades, the outlook for babies born with tricuspid atresia is better now than in the past.

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Symptoms