Regurgitation (circulation)
Encyclopedia
Regurgitation is blood flow
in the opposite direction from normal, as the backward flowing of blood into the heart
or between heart chambers. Can be categorized by:
Blood flow
Blood flow is the continuous running of blood in the cardiovascular system.The human body is made up of several processes all carrying out various functions. We have the gastrointestinal system which aids the digestion and the absorption of food...
in the opposite direction from normal, as the backward flowing of blood into the heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
or between heart chambers. Can be categorized by:
- aortic: the backflow of blood from the aortaAortaThe aorta is the largest artery in the body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it branches off into two smaller arteries...
into the left ventricleVentricle (heart)In the heart, a ventricle is one of two large chambers that collect and expel blood received from an atrium towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs. The Atria primes the Pump...
, owing to insufficiency of the aortic semilunar valve; it may be chronicChronic (medicine)A chronic disease is a disease or other human health condition that is persistent or long-lasting in nature. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.In medicine, the...
or acute. - mitral: the backflow of blood from the left ventricle into the left atrium, owing to insufficiency of the mitral valveMitral valveThe mitral valve is a dual-flap valve in the heart that lies between the left atrium and the left ventricle...
; it may be acute or chronic, and is usually due to mitral valve prolapse, rheumatic heart disease, or a complication of cardiac dilatation. See also Mitral regurgitationMitral regurgitationMitral regurgitation , mitral insufficiency or mitral incompetence is a disorder of the heart in which the mitral valve does not close properly when the heart pumps out blood. It is the abnormal leaking of blood from the left ventricle, through the mitral valve, and into the left atrium, when...
. - pulmonic: the backflow of blood from the pulmonary arteryPulmonary arteryThe pulmonary arteries carry deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs. They are the only arteries that carry deoxygenated blood....
into the right ventricle, owing to insufficiency of the pulmonic semilunar valve. - tricuspid: the backflow of blood from the right ventricle into the right atrium, owing to imperfect functioning (insufficiency) of the tricuspid valveTricuspid valveThe tricuspid valve, or right atrioventricular valve, is on the right dorsal side of the mammalian heart, between the right atrium and the right ventricle. The normal tricuspid valve usually has three leaflets and three papillary muscles. They are connected to the papillary muscles by the chordae...
. - valvular: regurgitation of the blood through the orifices of the heart valves owing to imperfect closing of the valves; see aortic, mitral, pulmonic, and tricuspid.