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Normal Blood Flow: Normal Blood Flow Through the Tricuspid Valve

You can see blood flow through the tricuspid valve in the parasternal, apical, and subcostal views. Normal right ventricular inflow occurs in diastole, as blood moves from the right atrium (RA) to the RV.

Diastolic flow through the tricuspid visualizes easily in the parasternal RV inflow view. An enhanced velocity map is used. This laminar blood flow, moving almost directly toward the transducer, is primarily colored orange and yellow. The smooth texture of the colors indicates laminar blood flow.

This parasternal short-axis view, frozen in diastole, shows normal tricuspid flow. An enhanced velocity map is used. Since the blood moves toward the transducer, the flow jet is colored red, orange, and yellow. This tricuspid flow is laminar, indicated by a smooth progression of colors.