Tricuspid valves

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Tricuspid valves

The heart has 4 valves. Their role is to ensure that circulation within the heart is only in the upward direction. Blood passes from one chamber to another and cannot flow back to the previous chamber.

Cup-shaped

These 4 heart valves are of 2 different types: 2 are composed of leaflets and cords, and the other 2 are cup-shaped. Because the anatomical structure of these valves features 3 cusps, they are called tricuspid valves.

Tricuspid valves include the pulmonary and the aortic valves. Each has 3 cusps that fit onto a fibrous ring in the cardiac skeleton. These valves separate the pulmonary artery from the right ventricle and the aorta from the left ventricle.

Like silk

A cusp is a small extremely flexible pouch that folds against its ring when blood is ejected from the ventricles (right or left).

Les 4 valves du cœur

As soon as expulsion is complete, the blood column attempts to flow backwards, due to the pressure drop and suction effect caused by ventricular relaxation. This attempt to reflux blood into the pulmonary artery or aorta causes the cupules to reopen, blocking the blood and sealing the valve.