ISOLATED PULMONIC VALVULAR REGURGITATION

Abstract. Isolated congenital pulmonic valvular regurgitation has been considered to be an extremely rare anomaly. The present paper gives a clinical and haemodynamic description of nine patients, seven of whom were seen by one Cardiological Unit in the course of five years. A constant clinical sign was a diastolic murmur in the second and third left intercostal space. Phonocardiograms disclosed occasionally a crescendo‐decrescendo murmur, which has been described as “typical”, but more often the murmur was simply decrescendo. The shape is apparently of little value in judging the severity of the lesion, as mild cases presented either type of murmur. A systolic murmur of varying grade has previously been described as a constant finding in pulmonic valvular regurgitation. However, in one of the present patients there was no such murmur. The diastolic murmur was occasionally very faint and may easily be overlooked. It is suggested that isolated pulmonic valve regurgitation may occur more frequently than previously believed.