Systolic aortic regurgitation: a not-so-rare phenomenon.
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.
Saura
Daniel
D
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: danielsaura@secardiologia.es.
Oliva
María J
MJ
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
Peñafiel
Pablo
P
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
de la Morena
Gonzalo
G
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
Valdés
Mariano
M
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology