This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Pulmonary valve (anatomy)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The pulmonary valve is the heart valve between the right ventricle and the pulmonary trunk. It consists of three semi-lunar leaflets or cusps which project into the pulmonary trunk:

  • anterior
  • left
  • right

It lies slightly anterosuperior to the aortic valve at the superior end of the infundibulum of the right ventricle; this is roughly the level of the left third costal cartilage. Its plane faces posterosuperior and to the left. The diameter of the valve is 2-3cm.

Each valve cusp is characterised by:

  • a central layer of collagen, the lamina fibrosa
  • a thickening of the lamina fibrosa at the free margin of each leaflet - the nodulus
  • regions lateral to the nodulus of each valve termed the lunules
  • a layer of endocardium completely covering the valve
  • an attachment between the lamina fibrosa and the pulmonary valve annulus, part of the fibrous skeleton of the heart
  • a dilation of the wall of the pulmonary trunk immediately superior to each cusp - the sinuses of Valsalva; each sinus fills with blood, so preventing the valve leaflet from adhering to the wall of the pulmonary trunk with consequent valvular incompetence

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page