What is another name for the pulmonary valve?

• A. Tricuspid valve
• B. Pulmonary semilunar valve
• C. Aortic valve
• D. Mitral valve

Answer: (B)

Pulmonary valve is the valve at the outflow of the right ventricle into the pulmonary trunk and is a semilunar valve. Because it sits in the outflow tract and has three cusps, its name is the pulmonary semilunar valve. Semilunar valves close when the ventricle relaxes to prevent blood from flowing back into the ventricle; this contrasts with the atrioventricular valves, which sit between atria and ventricles and have chordae tendineae. The other semilunar valve is the aortic valve, which sits between the left ventricle and the aorta. Hence, the valve between the right ventricle and the pulmonary trunk is correctly called the pulmonary semilunar valve.