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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffPrompt treatment helps avoid potentially fatal complications of tricuspid atresia, including:
- Lack of oxygen to tissues (hypoxemia). Tricuspid atresia may result in your baby's tissues getting too little oxygen, a condition that can be life-threatening.
- Increased red blood cell count (polycythemia). If your baby has tricuspid atresia, his or her body may begin to produce a greater than normal number of red blood cells. This can interfere with normal blood flow, which may lead to blood clots, a heart attack or a stroke.
Complications later in life
Although treatment greatly improves the outcome for babies with tricuspid atresia, they may still have the following complications later in life, even after surgery:
- Formation of blood clots that may lead to a clot blocking an artery in the lungs (pulmonary embolism) or to a stroke
- Easily tiring when participating in sports or other exercise
- Heart rhythm abnormalities (arrhythmias)
- Abnormal loss of protein from the digestive tract (protein-losing enteropathy)
- Infection of the heart valves (endocarditis)
For this reason, your child will need lifelong care from a heart specialist (cardiologist) to monitor for complications and treat them as necessary.
