Pms and Tricuspid Regurgitation

Hi.
Any have any experience of links between pacemakers and tricuspid regurgitation.
Regards.
Graham

4 Comments

Ian et al

by graham1 - 2013-02-07 03:02:14

Hi. Thanks for the comments. I take Ian's point, particularly as I have two leads (including one redundant ) passing from the atrium to the ventricle on the right.
For the record I had two scans, an angiogram and echogram, following an EP nurse finding' episodes of tachycardia' at my annual pacing session. It was the report from the echogram that referred to 'mild TR'. After that

session I was put on Asprin, Bisoprolol and a statin. My GP said that TR was a common finding with blokes of my age but was unable to give a prognosis for the condition.
Thanks again.
Graham.

Good question Graham

by IAN MC - 2013-02-07 05:02:31

One of the first things I asked my cardiologist when he was selling me on the idea of having a PM was :-

" How does a wire going from the right atrium to the right ventricle work; would it not stop the valve from closing properly ? "

His answer never filled me with confidence ; it was something along the lines of " As you get older most people have some regurgitation of blood back through the valve ; it's not clinically significant, don't worry about it ! "

I've often wondered though, all the reports we read here about people not running as well after a PM , not being quite the same as they were etc etc ;....could tricuspid regurgitation be a factor ??

I look forward to reading the replies

Ian

normal

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-07 08:02:07

My understanding is it's normal and mostly unavoidable but it doesn't cause problems.

I asked this too

by RobertS - 2013-02-07 11:02:22

before I had my dual lead pm implanted as, like Ian, I couldn't figure out how blood from the ventricle could be prevented from leaking back into the atrium.

I got essentially the same answer as Ian and Tracy too. It is usually pretty mild though apparently and doesn't cause any symptoms.

But if the TR is severe then there are usually quite marked symptoms like unusual fatigue, swelling of feet and ankles and sometimes pulsing in the neck veins. There is an interesting and informative article on this here:

http://ehjcimaging.oxfordjournals.org/content/9/1/201.full

And in the US they are currently running a trial on pm induced tricuspid regurgitation.
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01093001

Have to say I have not noticed any problems with excercise or anything but If you are worried go to the doctor and ask for an echocardiogram which should show it up .

Robert

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