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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Chronic Ovine Model of Right Ventricular Failure and Functional Tricuspid Regurgitation
Published on: March 17, 2023
Tricuspid valve incompetence caused by an intracardiac needle-like foreign body
Toshiro Kobayashi1, Kenji Hayashi, Kensuke Sakata
1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Saiseikai Shimonoseki General Hospital, Yamaguchi, Japan. kobaling@tf6.so-net.ne.jp
Abstract:
We report a rare case of tricuspid valve incompetence caused by a needle-like foreign body with an unknown route of invasion. A 55-year-old woman who had suffered from chronic heart failure for more than 25 years was diagnosed as having Ebstein's anomaly after a transthoracic echocardiogram with Doppler imaging showed severe tricuspid regurgitation and displacement of the septal leaflet toward the right ventricle inlet. Surgery revealed a foreign body attached to the tricuspid valve, causing regurgitation. Valve replacement was performed and the patient's condition improved remarkably thereafter.
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