Vol 67, No 1 (2008)
Original article
Published online: 2007-12-03
Morphometric features of the right atrioventricular orifice in adult human hearts
Folia Morphol 2008;67(1):53-57.
Abstract
The normal data of the tricuspid valve complex is of great clinical importance in
the light of progress in cardiosurgery and the development of novel operating
techniques. A range of measurements for the right atrioventricular orifice in
96 human adult hearts was examined by means of anatomical dissection, inspection,
examination, and statistical analyses. The length of the attachment of
the anterior leaflet increased significantly between group I (aged 18-40 years)
and group II (aged 41-64 years) in women only. In men there were no significant
differences in this parameter between any of the three age groups. In
addition, the attachment length of the posterior leaflet in women increased
statistically in the second age group. In men, in contrast, the attachment length
of the posterior leaflet did not increase significantly between the first and second
age groups and became significantly larger only in oldest age group, consisting
of men aged over 65. No statistically significant differences between the
three age groups were found for the attachment length of the septal leaflet
(p > 0.05). In female hearts significant increases in the frontal and sagittal
dimensions of the tricuspid valve orifice were observed between the second
age group and the group aged over 65. In male hearts both the frontal and
sagittal dimensions increased significantly with advanced age. The right atrioventricular
orifice expressed as the ellipse area was statistically greater than the
triangular area (p < 0.01) in each age group. It should be noticed that both
areas increased significantly during ageing. This study has demonstrated that
the shape of the right atrioventricular orifice evolves during life, from a triangular
shape to a more elliptical shape.
(Folia Morphol 2008; 67: 53-57)
(Folia Morphol 2008; 67: 53-57)
Keywords: right atrioventricular orificeattachment length of the tricuspid valvetricuspid valve orifice areastatistical analysismorphologymorphometryhuman heart