[Genesis and clinical significance of an apical diastolic rumble in patients with mitral Björk-Shiley valve: a Doppler echocardiographic study].
The genesis and clinical significance of an apical diastolic rumble after replacement with mitral Björk-Shiley prosthesis were studied in 20 patients by left ventricular (LV) inflow dynamics using Doppler echocardiography. 1. The rumble was audible in 17 of the 20 patients (85%). In all but one patient, its intensity was less than Levine 2/6. Duration of the rumble ranged from 248 to 544 (mean 377) msec. There was no case of prosthetic valve dysfunction. Duration of the slow filling wave (SF interval) of the apexcardiogram in 19 cases ranged from 150 to 541 (mean 317) msec, and it correlated significantly with the duration of the rumble (r = 0.95) in 15 cases. 2. In 20 patients, peak velocity of the LV inflow obtained from continuous wave Doppler echocardiograms ranged from 1.17 to 1.89 (mean 1.56) m/sec, and pressure half time (PHT) ranged from 82 to 233 (mean 134) msec. In 19 patients, the SF interval correlated significantly with PHT (r = 0.87), but not with peak inflow velocity. 3. Peak inflow velocity was significantly slower in cases without a rumble than in cases with a rumble. PHT and the SF interval tended to be shorter in the former than in the latter. 4. There was no significant difference in the SF interval, peak inflow velocity and PHT between eight patients with smaller valve sizes (less than or equal to 25 mm) and 12 with larger valve sizes (greater than or equal to 27 mm). 5. There was no obvious relation between the direction of the main LV inflow jet as assessed by Doppler color flow mapping and the presence of the rumble in 19 patients. 6. In 19 patients, the SF interval correlated significantly with left atrial dimension (r = 0.47), but it did not correlate with LV end-diastolic dimension, fractional shortening of the LV, and the peak lengthening rate of LV internal dimension. 7. Three patients with both the rumble and SF lasting 500 msec had prolonged PHT longer than 190 msec. One of these three had congestive heart failure and suspected prosthetic mitral valve stenosis. From these results, we concluded that an apical diastolic rumble after replacement with mitral Björk-Shiley valve is mainly due to the increase in resistance and velocity of the LV inflow, and that both durations of the rumble and the SF intervals as well as PHT of the Doppler echocardiogram are useful in detecting stenosis of prosthetic mitral valves.
Kawano
K
K
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokushima.
Fukuda
N
N
Okumoto
T
T
Emi
S
S
Hosoi
K
K
Uchida
T
T
Kawano
T
T
Iuchi
A
A
Hayashi
M
M
Oki
T
T
D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D003971:Diastole; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006337:Heart Murmurs / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006347:Heart Sounds; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow