The Effect of Aortic Regurgitation and Mitral Regurgitation on Mitral Valve Area Calculated by Pressure Half-time, in Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis

To investigate the effects of mitral regurgitation (MR) and aort regurgitation (AR) on mitral valve area measured by Doppler, 106 patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis (RMS) were examined prospectively. Of 106 cases with RMS, 27 had AR, 13 had MR and 49 had both MR and AR, while 17 cases had pure MS. When all 106 patients were assessed, there was a moderate correlation for valve area between B-mode and Doppler (r=0.59, p<0.0001). The best correlation was in pure RMS group (r=0.91, p<0.001), the weakest correlation being in RMS with MR and AR group (r=0.43, p<0.01). There was a good correlation in RMS with MR (r=0.71, p<0.001) or AR (r=0.60, p<0.0001) group. In conclusion, there was good cerralation for valve areas between by B-mode and Doppler in pure RMS with MR and AR.

Keywords: Rheumatic mitral stenosis, mitral valve area, color Doppler echocardiography