Fluttering of the mitral valve in aortic insufficiency.

Thirty-five patients with clinical evidence of aortic insufficiency were studied by echocardiography. Eleven patients had characteristic diastolic fluttering of the mitral valve (30 to 40 Hz, maximal amplitude 4 mm). In five others the fluttering was classified as equivocal. In a control group of 500 echocardiograms in patients without evidence of aortic insufficiency, there were three examples of equivocal fluttering. Atrial fibrillation also produces diastolic fluttering but of slower frequency.