The connection between the papillary muscles and leaflets of the tricuspid valve

The tricuspid valve is more differentiated during evolutionary development than the mitral valve. In birds it is a muscular structure joined directly to the papillary muscles, although the mitral valve of birds resembles that of mammals. There have been well-known studies describing the evolutionary line of connection of the tricuspid valve with the papillary muscles. The present study was performed on a group of 107 formalin-fixed adult human hearts. The valves and papillary muscles were classified according to a scheme for human hearts drawn up earlier. The types of connection between leaflets of the tricuspid valve and the papillary muscles were classified according to a scheme drawn up earlier for vertebrates. We observed 3 types of connection between leaflets of the tricuspid valve and the papillary muscles in the group studied. The muscular and membranous connections were not linked with any one type of tricuspid valve. Atypical forms of distribution of the tendinous chords of the right ventricle were observed. It was found that valves with a higher number of leaflets were (with the exception of type 0) provided with a smaller number of tendinous chords. Atavistic features and atypical forms of distribution of the tendinous chords are present in a small percentage of samples of the human right valvular apparatus.