Venous systolic thrill and murmur in the neck: a consequence of severe tricuspid insufficiency

A palpable venous systolic thrill and murmur at the base of the neck are described as new physical findings in five patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation. In two of these patients, the tricuspid valve had been resected as treatment for infective endocarditis related to intravenous drug abuse. The third patient had severe chronic pulmonary disease with right heart failure. The fourth patient had a complex congenital defect in which the mitral valve served as the venous atrioventricular valve and was severely incompetent. The fifth patient suffered from long-standing rheumatic mitral and tricuspid disease with pulmonary hypertension 10 years after placement of a mitral prosthesis. From these observations, it is apparent that pulsatile retrograde flow in the cervical veins resulting from severe right-sided atrioventricular valve incompetence can produce a palpable systolic thrill and murmur at the base of the neck.