Ever heard of a Eustachian valve in the heart?

[Mb]

Hello all:

I am interested in whether anyone here has had a mention of a remnant eustachian valve in their echo or TEE. My husband recently had a TEE, as he is facing right sided tricuspid valve repair or replacement on the 24th. The report mentions a prominent eustachian valve in the right atria. The Dr. says the surgeon may, or may not address removing this embryonic tissue. I did mention this in another post, but I've been wondering lately if this is a really unusual finding! Anyone?

Marybetyh

 

[PJmomrunner]

Well, no, I hadn't so I checked it out on PubMed and got lots of hits:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed

And then I googled it and I found one website with what appears to be a good explanation of what it is. ( http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cach...stachian+valve+heart&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1 )

"The valve of the inferior vena cava (valvula ven? cav? inferioris [Eustachii]; Eustachian valve) is situated in front of the orifice of the inferior vena cava. It is semilunar in form, its convex margin being attached to the anterior margin of the orifice; its concave margin, which is free, ends in two cornua, of which the left is continuous with the anterior edge of the limbus fossæ ovalis while the right is lost on the wall of the atrium. The valve is formed by a duplicature of the lining membrane of the atrium, containing a few muscular fibers. In the fetus this valve is of large size, and serves to direct the blood from the inferior vena cava, through the foramen ovale, into the left atrium. In the adult it occasionally persists, and may assist in preventing the reflux of blood into the inferior vena cava; more commonly it is small, and may present a cribriform or filamentous appearance; sometimes it is altogether wanting."

I have a structural weirdism too. I guess many of us get "package deals"!

 

[davidfortune]

MB,

Apparently most of us still have this embryonic structure. Usually it is just a small flap but in rare cases it is more prominent. She the article from Texas Heart Institute regarding a giant eustachian valve:

Giant Eustachian Valve

 

[hensylee]

see how we learn in VR? I never heard of this.

 

[tobagotwo]

I replied as to what a eustachian valve was in Marybeth's thread about a week ago. She already knew what it was, but I posted it for general information. http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19140&highlight=Eustachian

I believe what Marybeth is looking for in this thread is to see whether anyone else here has had any actual experience with dealing with one, and if so, how many did, and what were the conditions and results.

Best wishes,

 

[Mb]

Hello!

Bob is right. I do know what the valve IS, what I am wondering, is if anyone else ran into this on an echo report, and frankly how it might have been handled, if at all, during surgery on the right (or left) side of the heart.

Marybeth