Pulmonary valve regurgitation

Color Doppler display of mild pulmonary insufficiency in dogs. The red "torch" represents the return flow of blood into the heart.

A Pulmonalklappeninsuffizienz , shorter and pulmonary insufficiency called, is an insufficient closure of the pulmonary valve , so the heart valve in the Austreibungsbahn the right ventricle . Due to the pulmonary valve insufficiency, blood (backflow volume, regurgitation volume, pendulum volume, backflow) flows from the pulmonary artery ( Truncus pulmonalis ) back into the right ventricle during diastole . The short form pulmonary insufficiency should be avoided in order not to confuse it with pulmonary insufficiency.

Mild pulmonary valve insufficiency without clinical signs of heart disease is frequent and should not be considered a pathological finding. It is therefore also referred to here as “physiological” pulmonary valve insufficiency.

Severe pulmonary valve insufficiency is often the result of endocarditis . With high blood pressure in the pulmonary circulation ( pulmonary hypertension ), overstretching of the pulmonary valve ring can lead to relative valve insufficiency. The return flow of the blood then leads to a considerably increased volume load on the right ventricle.

The speed of the blood flowing back depends on the pressure difference between the pulmonary artery and the right ventricle. It is measured by echocardiography and can be used to estimate the pressure in the pulmonary artery using Bernoulli's equation .

In contrast to pulmonary valve stenosis , pulmonary valve insufficiency is a heart defect that rarely occurs .

literature

Klaus Holldack, Klaus Gahl: Auscultation and percussion. Inspection and palpation. Thieme, Stuttgart 1955; 10th, revised edition ibid 1986, ISBN 3-13-352410-0 , p. 176 f.