[Doppler echocardiographic diagnosis of tricuspid valve insufficiency after plastic surgery of ventricular septal defects in children].

The methods of bidimensional echocardiography and doppler-echocardiography were used in appraising the condition of the tricuspid valve before and after plastic surgery of ventricular septal defects in 113 patients. Surgical approach through the right atrium was used in plastics of the ventricular septal defect. The patients were examined before the operation and 2 weeks after it; 77 patients were studied in follow-up periods of 6 months to 2 years after the operation. Pansystolic turbulent regurgitation of blood was detected only in 4 patients before plastic repair of the ventricular septal defect. Pansystolic turbulent regurgitation at the tricuspid valve was registered in the immediate postoperative period and 2 weeks after the term periods in many patients and persisted only in 29% of cases. It should be emphasized that tricuspid incompetence was not manifested clinically in these patients. It is concluded that doppler-echocardiography is an effective and highly-sensitive method for the diagnosis of tricuspid incompetence, even if it has no clinical signs.