title: Systolic aortic regurgitation: a not-so-rare phenomenon.
abstract: In a normal cardiac cycle, aortic and pulmonary regurgitation are diastolic phenomena. Aortic regurgitation has been observed in ventricular systole in patients with arrhythmias, extracorporeal circulation and palliative surgical correction of complex congenital heart disease. Systolic aortic regurgitation is explained as the inability of the ventricular beat to overcome the aortic pressure in patients with valvular incompetence. Beyond its potential as an elegant quiz about heart physiology, clinical association of systolic aortic regurgitation with heart failure and syncope has been described. Illustrative examples of both aortic and pulmonary systolic regurgitation are presented, an image of "continuous" aortic regurgitation is displayed, and technical issues on its diagnosis are briefly commented.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: danielsaura@secardiologia.es.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saura
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: María J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Oliva
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peñafiel
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de la Morena
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valdés
mesh_terms: D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology