A practical approach to the quantification of valvular regurgitation.
This article reviews the methods of determining the severity of mitral and aortic regurgitation, primarily the quantitation using Doppler echocardiography. The Doppler methods, including spatial mapping, proximal flow convergence, vena contracta, continuous-wave Doppler density, and upstream or downstream effects are explained. Various practical pitfalls and performance issues that impact the reliability of these techniques are discussed.
Jacob
Ron
R
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Stewart
William J
WJ
D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000503:physiopathology; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013318:Stroke Volume