Pulsed Doppler patterns of left atrial flow in mitral regurgitation.

A prospective pulsed Doppler study of 55 patients was undertaken to detect and quantitate mitral regurgitation. Systolic left atrial flow dispersion indicated mitral regurgitation. Doppler study was feasible in nearly 95% of patients. Sensitivity, specificity and predictive accuracy were 89%, 84% and 88%, respectively. Three methods were used to quantitate mitral regurgitation: (1) maximal depth level of systolic left atrial flow, (2) left atrial flow patterns immediately behind the mitral valve closure line (I, protosystolic; II, gradual decrease in intensity of left atrial flow signal throughout systole; and III, broad flow dispersion occupying all systole); and (3) a score system that combined these 2 methods. Results showed that flow patterns behind the mitral valve closure line correlate with angiographic assessment of mitral regurgitation. This provided the simplest and most practical method of determining the severity of mitral regurgitation.

[Guidelines of the Spanish Society of Cardiology on magnetic resonance]. / Guías de práctica clínica de la Sociedad Española de Cardiología en resonancia magnética.

A wide perspective of the cardiac applications of magnetic resonance is presented in this report, including technical aspects of the practice, recommendations on the appropriate training of medical personnel for the practice of examination and also, an extensively commented review of the accepted clinical indications for the practice of a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging study at present.

[Pulmonary artery thrombosis in a patient with mitral-tricuspid valve disease. Added value of peroperative transesophageal echocardiogram]. / Trombosis arterial pulmonar en una paciente con valvulopatía mitro-tricuspídea. Valor añadido del ecocardiograma transesofágico peroperatorio.

The performance of peroperative transesophageal echocardiography on a 60 year old woman with mitral and tricuspid valve disease discovered a previously undiagnosed thrombus in the right pulmonary artery that completely occluded the inferior lobar branches. Following valvular surgery, a successful thromboendarterectomy was performed.