Pulmonary right cusp !
The right cusp is one of the three flaps of the pulmonary valve, the side facing the aorta; together they stop blood flowing back from the lungs.
Official name: Right semilunar leaflet of pulmonary valve
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What it is
The right cusp of the pulmonary valve.
What it does
One of the three cusps that seal the pulmonary valve.
Key facts
- Where
- Right (posterior) cusp of pulmonary valve, facing aortic root
- Attaches
- Crescent-shaped attachment to pulmonary trunk root; nodule and lunules at free edge
- Function
- Closes in diastole, preventing backflow into right ventricle; valve heard best at left 2nd intercostal space
Relations
- Behind
- Aortic root, near the aortic right and left coronary cusps
- In front
- Pulmonary anterior cusp, at the commissure
- Lateral
- Pulmonary left cusp, at the commissure facing the aortic root
- Below
- Outflow (infundibular) septum, separating the right ventricular outflow from the aortic root
On imaging
Parasternal short-axis echo and CT show it beside the aortic root; in transposition of the great arteries this side-by-side relation is lost and the vessels run parallel.
Common problems
- Pulmonary stenosis, usually from birth; often treated with a balloon.
- Leak after childhood repair of congenital heart disease.
How it is diagnosed
Echocardiogram; cardiac MRI.
Treatment
- Balloon valvuloplasty or valve replacement (surgical or by catheter).
Clinical notes
- Tetralogy of Fallot: the outflow septum is displaced forward, narrowing the infundibulum below this valve, which is often small and thick
- In pulmonary hypertension the cusps are usually normal; the loud P2 and regurgitation come from high pressure and a dilated trunk
- Typical valvar pulmonary stenosis has thin cusps fused at the commissures into a dome; balloon valvuloplasty, which tears the fused commissures, is the usual first treatment
Development
It grows from half of a lateral outflow cushion; the other half of the same cushion becomes an aortic cusp, so the two valves are built side by side.
Related conditions
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
How is the pulmonary valve positioned relative to the aortic valve?
Higher, more anterior and to the left of the aortic valve, at an angle to it; the pulmonary right cusp lies next to the aortic root.
Which of the four heart valves is least often affected by endocarditis?
The pulmonary valve.
In tetralogy of Fallot, what narrows the outflow below the pulmonary valve?
The outflow septum is displaced forward, narrowing the infundibulum; the valve is often small and thick.
Educational information, not medical advice. For any symptom, see a health professional.
Its names
- Official Latin (TA2)
- valvula semilunaris dextra valvae trunci pulmonalis TA2 4010
- Official Spanish (DeCS)
- Valva semilunar derecha de la válvula pulmonar DeCS D011664
- English (TA2)
- Right semilunar leaflet of pulmonary valve
- Also called
- right adjacent leaflet of pulmonary valve · right semilunar cusp of pulmonary valve · velum semilunare dextrum
Sources: Terminologia Anatomica (TA2); DeCS; Anatomy, Thorax, Heart Pulmonic Valve; Anatomy of the Human Body (20th ed.): Development of the Vascular System (Lea & Febiger (Gray's Anatomy, 1918), 1918) · adapted, Public domain.
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.
