Dallas
214-456-2333
Fax: 214-456-2714
Plano
469-303-4300
Fax: 469-303-4310
Park Cities
469-488-7000
Fax: 469-488-7001
Prosper
469-303-5000
Fax: 214-867-9511
Request an Appointment with codes: Cardiology (Heart Center)
Children's Health℠ is home to the largest team of pediatric cardiology and congenital heart defect experts in the region. Most children we treat for tricuspid atresia have excellent outcomes because we have a comprehensive team that can treat all aspects of your child’s condition.
214-456-2333
Fax: 214-456-2714
469-303-4300
Fax: 469-303-4310
469-488-7000
Fax: 469-488-7001
469-303-5000
Fax: 214-867-9511
Request an Appointment with codes: Cardiology (Heart Center)
Tricuspid atresia is a rare heart defect that affects the valve dividing the heart’s upper right chamber (the atrium) from the lower right chamber (the ventricle). Tricuspid atresia is a type of single valve defect that a child is born with (which is also called a congenital condition).
Children with tricuspid atresia can have any of the following problems with their heart:
Many children with tricuspid atresia also have a hole in the wall dividing their right and left ventricle.
These heart issues interrupt the normal flow of blood through your child's heart, which can cause other health issues. In a healthy heart, blood returns to the right side of the heart after delivering oxygen to the rest of the body. This blood is called oxygen-poor or blue blood. The right side of the heart then pumps the blue blood to the lungs where it receives oxygen and becomes red blood. The red blood returns to the heart, this time on the left side, which pumps it back to the rest of the body.
A tricuspid atresia can cause your child’s blood to flow in the wrong direction inside of their heart.
According to Texas state law, every child born in Texas must receive a congenital heart screening at birth. Tricuspid atresia is often caught during this screening. However, it is becoming increasingly common for it to be diagnosed during pregnancy.
At Children’s Health, we can diagnose it either during pregnancy or in the early days of a baby’s life. Our cardiologists perform many types of imaging to get clear pictures of your child’s heart. These tests help your child’s care team figure out what kind of tricuspid atresia your child has and helps us figure out what kind of surgery they will need.
These tests include:
This test is first-line tool used to diagnose tricuspid atresia. It uses ultrasound (high-frequency sound waves) from a hand-held wand to provide pictures of your child’s heart's valves and chambers to help clarify how well it is pumping blood.
Using a strong magnetic field and radio waves, an MRI creates detailed images of the heart’s structure and function.
Using computer processing to combine 2-dimensional X-ray images, CT scans make a 3-dimensional images of the heart.
Doctors insert a long thin tube (called a catheter) into one of your child’s arteries or veins. They thread the catheter through your child’s blood vessels to their heart. Once there, the catheter can help doctors measure your child’s oxygen levels and check the pumping function of your child’s heart.
Children’s Health specialists combine an MRI with a catheterization into one procedure so children can avoid receiving anesthesia more than absolutely necessary.
There is no known cause for tricuspid atresia. We do know that tricuspid atresia develops during pregnancy. In addition, tricuspid atresia is common in children with some genetic disorders.
Tricuspid atresia is treated with surgery. There are lots of different surgeries available to children with tricuspid atresia. These procedures aim to create new pathways for your child’s blood in the heart so that red and blue blood do not get mixed up and so their bodies can get the oxygen-rich blood they need.
The surgery your child gets will depend on how their arteries are arranged. Your child’s surgical team will work with you to figure out which surgery is best for your child.
Some of the devices used to treat tricuspid atresia do not grow with children and may need to be replaced later in your child’s life.
Children with tricuspid atresia are not usually limited by their heart defect after surgery. They may have some limitations on their physical exercise but — for the most part — can play alongside their peers who don’t have heart defects.