Methods that have been used to assess the regurgitant fraction in mitral regurgitation include echocardiography, cardiac catheterization, fast CT scan, and cardiac MRI.The echocardiographic technique to measure the regurgitant fraction is to determine the forward flow through the mitral valve (from the left atrium to the left ventricle) during ventricular diastole, and comparing it with the flow out of the left ventricle through the aortic valve in ventricular systole. This method assumes that the aortic valve does not have aortic insufficiency.Another way to quantify the degree of MR is to determine the area of the regurgitant flow at the level of the valve. This is known as the regurgitant orifice area and correlates with the size of the defect in the mitral valve. One particular echocardiographic technique used to measure the orifice area is measurement of the proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA). The flaw of using PISA to determine the mitral valve regurgitant orifice area is that it measures the flow at one moment in time in the cardiac cycle, which may not reflect the average performance of the regurgitant jet. Treatment
The treatment of MR depends on the acuteness of the disease and whether there are associated signs of hemodynamic compromise. In general, medical therapy is non-curative and is used for mild-to-moderate regurgitation or in patients unable to tolerate surgery.In acute MR secondary to a mechanical defect in the heart (i.e., rupture of a papillary muscle or chordae tendineae), the treatment of choice is mitral valve surgery.
This allows the complex surgery to proceed in a still environment.Due to the physiological stress associated with open-heart surgery, elderly and very sick patients may be subject to increased risk, and may not be candidates for this type of surgery. As a consequence, there are attempts to identify means of correcting MR on a beating heart. The Alfieri technique for instance, has been replicated using a percutaneous catheter technique, which installs a "MitraClip" device to hold the middle of the mitral valve closed.Indications for surgery for chronic MR include signs of left ventricular dysfunction with ejection fraction less than 60%, severe pulmonary hypertension with pulmonary artery systolic pressure greater than 50 mmHg at rest or 60 mmHg during activity, and new-onset atrial fibrillation. Epidemiology
Significant mitral valve regurgitation has a prevalence of approximately 2% of the population, affecting males and females equally. It is one of the two most common valvular heart diseases in the elderly, and the commonest type of valvular heart disease in low and middle income countries.In a study of 595 male elite football players aged 18–38 and 47 sedentary non-athletes, mitral regurgitation was found in 20% football players and 15% in control group. Football players with mitral regurgitation were found to have larger mitral annulus diameter compared to athletes without regurgitation, and left atrium diameter was larger in athletes with MR.

See also
Tricuspid regurgitation
Aortic regurgitation
Pulmonary insufficiency

References


== External links ==