What is the relationship between tricuspid regurgitation and a patent foramen ovale?
The most common cause of tricupid regurgitation is enlargement of the right ventricle. This can have many causes and one of them is a patent foramen ovale. When the foramen ovale is open it allows blood from the left atrium to be shunted into the right atrium and then into the right ventricle. This causes a fliud overload in the right vetricle and it has to work harder to get the blood out into the pulmonary artery. Over time this causes the right ventricle to enlage (hypertrophy). When this happens the tricuspid valve becomes distorted and tricuspid regurgitation can be the result. In fact in the adult patient a murmur of tricupid regurgitation is expected if the patient is known to have a patent foramen ovale.
