Routine echocardiography which is used to assess the severity of mitral regurgitation, sometimes underestimates the severity of mitral regurgitation, due to hemodynamic variations that occurs with normal physical activity and under the effect of sedation which is used to perform transesophageal echocardiography. By using phenylephrine during transesophageal echocardiography, the study intends to offset the hemodynamic variation that occurs with sedation and better assess the severity of mitral regurgitation, which would further assist in clinical decision-making regarding treatment. The goal of this study is to compare the severity of mitral regurgitation grade before and after the administration of phenylephrine during transesophageal echocardiography and to demonstrate a 25% increase in severity of mitral regurgitation grade compared to the baseline conditions, following the administration of phenylephrine.
The study proposes to develop a phenylephrine protocol to be used during transesophageal echocardiography, whereby intravenous phenylephrine would be used to increase afterload with the intent to mimic the awake hemodynamic profile and variation that occurs with normal physical activity. The expectation is to see changes in severity of Mitral Regurgitation (MR) grade with increasing afterload, which in turn can provide more accurate quantification of MR severity to assist in clinical decision making.