Regurgitation across an obviously normal valve orifice as a possible prerequisite for non-organic cardiac murmur.
Using pulsed and continuous wave Doppler echocardiography, the author examined 359 subjects referred to ultrasound examination for a variety of reasons. Thorough examination of persons with morphologically unchanged valves revealed regurgitation in the tricuspid, pulmonary, mitral and aortic valves in 49.4%, 20%, 14.5% and 0.8%, respectively. The degree of regurgitation was invariably haemodynamically insignificant. Some patients had a positive finding in several valves at a time. Overall, regurgitation was found in 247 subjects (69%). While it is evident from the study that the finding of regurgitation in normal valves is relatively frequent, evaluation of its clinical importance remains an open question.
1st Department of Charles University School of Medical Hygiene, Prague, Czechoslovakia.
A
A
Stárek
P
P
Niederle
R
R
Spacek
V
V
Suchan
R
R
Feureisl
I
I
Hes
P
P
Kozák
E
E
Hausnerová
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006326:Heart Auscultation; D006337:Heart Murmurs; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis; D011665:Pulmonary Valve Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis; D014262:Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis