Unfavorable Tricuspid Annulus Dynamics: A Novel Concept to Explain Development of Tricuspid Regurgitation in Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract

The tricuspid annulus (TA) has a complex, nonplanar, highly dynamic structure that requires three-dimensional echocardiography for accurate assessment.1 Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is known to cause dilation in both mitral annulus and TA. While previous studies have investigated mitral annulus dynamics in AFib compared with sinus rhythm (SR),2 there is a lack of such studies for TA. Hence, we set forth to describe TA dynamics in AFib and SR. Furthermore, we assess the impact of variability in annulus dynamics on tricuspid valve regurgitation (TR).