[Massive tricuspid insufficiency during idiopathic dilatation of the right atrium. Surgical treatment. Apropos of two cases].

Tricuspid incompetence occuring in isolation is extremely rare, and had only been described under certain very particular conditions: trauma, septicaemia of genital origin, intravenous injection of narcotics. Idiopathic dilatation of the auricle of the right atrium is a disorder which has been described during the last fifteen years or so, and is recognised mainly because of the disorders of rhythm which it causes. These two cases demonstrate that, in the long-term, massive dilatation of the auricle can lead to tricuspid incompetence by dilating the ring, and require surgical intervention.