[A clinicopathologic study of morphologic tricuspid valve prolapse in the aged: comparison with color Doppler...

Similar morphologic abnormalities have often been observed in the leaflets of tricuspid valve in patients with mitral valve prolapse. In the present study, morphologic tricuspid valve prolapse was analyzed in 500 consecutive autopsies of the aged over 60 years (mean 78.5 yrs, 266 men, 234 women). Additionally, the sensitivity and specificity of the color Doppler technique applied before death were assessed in 61 autopsy cases. The results were as follows: 1. The incidence of morphologic tricuspid valve prolapse was 22.2% at autopsy in 500 cases of the aged, however, tricuspid regurgitation had not clinically been detected in any of them. 2. The prolapse of 2- or 3-leaflets was common (78.5%). Among the 3 leaflets, the prolapse was more frequently observed in the anterior or posterior leaflet than in the septal leaflet. Combined tricuspid and mitral valve prolapses were observed in 22 cases (19.8%). 3. Among 61 cases examined by color Doppler echocardiography, autopsy showed that 16 cases had tricuspid valve prolapse and 14 cases tricuspid regurgitant flow signals (87.5%). 4. Regurgitant flow signals were also detected in 4 of 12 morphologically normal cases (33.3%). 5. In autopsy cases of the aged, generally, the incidence of morphologic tricuspid valve prolapse and tricuspid regurgitant flow signal were high, however, hemodynamically significant regurgitation due to prolapse was very rare.