The three-dimensional relationships between mitral and tricuspid valvular annuli for total artificial heart implantation.

The three-dimensional relationship between the mitral valvular annulus (MVA) and tricuspid valvular annulus (TVA) was studied in 32 cadaver hearts. It was found that when the distance from the center of the MVA and TVA (D-G) were standardized and when MVA and TVA were overlapped by matching their centers, MVA was located in the fan shaped region in the lateral view of the TVA and pointed toward the orifice of the coronary sinus. D-G was correlated with the volume of the space occupied by both ventricles. When the value of D-G was standardized, TVA remains free to change its shape and orientation toward either the cranial or caudal direction.