You have not signed in, your progress will not be monitored for certification purposes. Click here to sign in.

Tricuspid flow

Criteria

 

In the assessment of tricuspid flow it is important that the following criteria are observed:

  • The gestation should be 11+0 to 13+6 weeks and the CRL 45-84 mm.
  • The fetus should not be moving.
  • The magnification of the image should be such that the fetal thorax occupies the whole screen.
  • An apical four-chamber view of the fetal heart should be obtained.
  • Colour flow mapping should not be used because it is unreliable for the diagnosis of tricuspid regurgitation in the first-trimester.
  • The pulsed Doppler sample should be large (2 to 3 mm) and positioned across the tricuspid valve.
  • The insonation angle to the direction of flow should be less than 30 degrees from the direction of the inter-ventricular septum.
  • The tricuspid valve could be insufficient in one or more of its three cusps, and therefore the sample volume should be placed across the valve at least three times, in an attempt to interrogate the complete valve.
  • The sweep speed should be high (2 to 3 cm/s) so that the waveforms are widely spread for better assessment.