Doppler echocardiographic evaluation of mitral regurgitation.
Evaluation of the severity and hemodynamic significance of mitral regurgitation remains an important and difficult problem. Cardiac ultrasound has emerged as the procedure of choice for the initial evaluation of mitral incompetence, as a result of its ability to confirm the diagnosis and provide a semiquantitative estimate of the severity of incompetence, determine its etiology, and assess the hemodynamic impact of the incompetence on ventricular function. This article reviews established as well as investigational methods of evaluating mitral incompetence by echocardiography and explores established and potential clinical applications of this evolving technology.
Division of Cardiovascular Disease, University of Alabama, Birmingham.
G J
GJ
Perry
A
A
Bouchard
D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis*