Severe TR may be suspected if right ventricular enlargement is seen on chest x-ray, and other causes of this enlargement are ruled out.Definitive diagnosis is made by echocardiogram, which is capable of measuring both the presence and the severity of the TR, as well as right ventricular dimensions and systolic pressures. Management
Medical
Medical therapy of Tricuspid regurgitation consists of diuretics, but as the disease progresses, they become inefficient. Surgical
Indications for surgical fixation of tricuspidal issues include organic lesion(s) in the valve or severe functional regurgitation. During open heart surgery for another issue (e.g. mitral valve), fixing the tricuspid valve may be considered, but medical consensus is unclear. Some argue that even mild to moderate tricuspid regurgitation should be addressed, while others take a more conservative approach. Infective endocarditis or traumatic lesions are other indications.Surgical options include annuloplasty or replacement of the valve. Adding a rigid prosthetic ring aims to decrease the diameter of the valve and stabilize it. Another annuloplasty modality is the "De Vega technique", in which the valve diameter is decreased by two sutures placed around the periphery of the valve. In cases of severe organic lesions of the valve, such as endocarditis, the valve may be excised. Tricuspid valve replacement with either a mechanical valve or a bioprosthesis may be indicated depending on the patient. Mechanical prostheses can cause thromboembolic phenomena, while bioprostheses may degenerate with use.
The assignment of pathological nomenclature is rarely a benign process and can easily rise to the level of emotional iatrogenesis, especially when no alternatives outside of the diagnostic naming process have been considered. Many former patients come to the conclusion that their difficulties are largely the result of the power relationships inherent in psychiatric treatment, which has led to the rise of the anti-psychiatry movement. Iatrogenic poverty
Meessen et al. used the term "iatrogenic poverty" to describe impoverishment induced by medical care. Impoverishment is described for households exposed to catastrophic health expenditure or to hardship financing. Every year, worldwide, over 100,000 households fall into poverty due to health care expenses. A study reported that in the United States in 2001, illness and medical debt caused half of all personal bankruptcies. Especially in countries in economic transition, the willingness to pay for health care is increasing, and the supply side does not stay behind and develops very fast. But the regulatory and protective capacity in those countries is often lagging behind. Patients easily fall into a vicious cycle of illness, ineffective therapies, consumption of savings, indebtedness, sale of productive assets, and eventually poverty. Social and cultural iatrogenesis
The 20th-century social critic Ivan Illich broadened the concept of medical iatrogenesis in his 1974 book Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health by defining it at three levels. First, clinical iatrogenesis is the injury done to patients by ineffective, unsafe, and erroneous treatments as described above.