The mitral valve apparatus is a complex anatomic and functional unit composed of the mitral annulus, valve leaflets, chordae, papillary muscles, and the underlying left ventricular wall. Normal function depends on both normal anatomy of each of these components and on the overall three dimensional relationships of these structures to each other, including the effects of overall left ventricular...

Hammersley D, et al. BMJ Case Rep 2017. doi:10.1136/bcr-2017-219280 Description A previously fit and well middle-aged woman presented with a 24-hour history of deteriorating breathlessness and rigors. The patient showed signs of acute respiratory distress. She was febrile, tachycardic and had a loud pansystolic murmur at the cardiac apex. A chest radiograph showed right lower zone consolidation...

A case is described of acute torrential mitral regurgitation resulting from avulsion of both papillary muscles 12 hours after a blunt chest and abdominal injury. The intensive care and surgical management are discussed.

We evaluated auscultatory findings in a 67-year-old man with acquired pulmonic and mitral regurgitation. During inspiration, the murmur of pulmonic regurgitation decreased in intensity prior to surgery, but increased in intensity after mitral valve replacement. Inspiration reduces the volume of mitral regurgitation, thereby reducing the volume and murmur of pulmonic regurgitation.

BACKGROUND Mitral regurgitation in people without prior cardiac disease is considered a degenerative disease with no established risk factors for its prevention. We aimed to test the hypothesis that elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) across its usual spectrum is associated with higher risk of mitral regurgitation. METHODS AND FINDINGS We used linked electronic health records from the Unit...

OBJECTIVES To study the effect of mitral valve repair with or without concomitant tricuspid valve repair on functional tricuspid regurgitation and right ventricular function. METHODS From 2001 to 2007, 1833 patients with degenerative mitral valve disease, a structurally normal tricuspid valve, and no coronary artery disease underwent mitral valve repair, and 67 underwent concomitant tricuspid...

INTRODUCTION Current guidelines state that patients with severe mitral regurgitation should be treated in reference centers with a high reparability rate, low mortality rate, and durable results. OBJECTIVE To analyze our global experience with the treatment of organic mitral regurgitation from various etiologies operated in a single center. METHODS We evaluated all surgically treated patien...

Indices have been developed that provide an improved means for evaluation of the degrees of severity of mitral stenosis and regurgitation. The severity of anatomic mitral valve disease found at surgery or autopsy was considered to be the determinant of the state of the valve. An index of the time for the diastolic atrioventricular pressure gradient to fall to half its value multiplied by 100 an...

BACKGROUND Postoperative ejection phase parameters and patient survival rates for mitral valve replacement surgery are considerably lower than for similar aortic valve surgery. While chordal transection probably is the major contributor to the lowered values, there is also evidence for decreased preoperative myocardial contractile reserve in mitral regurgitation patients. This study characteriz...