This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Elijah, R. F. Articles by Skelly, A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Doppler Echocardiographic Correlation of Pulmonary Venous Flow Patterns to Mitral Valve Regurgitant Severity in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

Seattle University, Seattle, Washington; P.O. Box 636, Tracyton, WA 98393.

Catherine Otto, MD

Allen Pearlman, MD

Michelle Fujioka, RDCS, RT

Todd Zwink, RDMS, RDCS

University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.

Andrea Skelly, MPH, RDMS, RDCS

Seattle University, Seattle, Washington.

Studies have shown that pulmonary systolic velocities are decreased in patients with atrial fibrillation, but none have shown the correlation between mitral valve regurgitant severity and the amount of systolic flow decrease/reversal in these patients. In patients with normal sinus rhythm, a finding of decreased systolic flow <0.4 m/s is consistent with moderate mitral regurgitation, and systolic flow reversal is consistent with severe mitral regurgitation. Doppler recordings of 66 patients who were in atrial fibrillation at the time of their transthoracic echocardiograms (January-July 1995, January 1996-February 1997) were analyzed to show the statistical relation between mitral regurgitant severity and the amount of systolic flow decrease/reversal. This study showed that a decrease in systolic flow velocities expected in patients with atrial fibrillation and the amount of decrease does not correlate statistically with the severity of mitral regurgitant lesions. In addition, flow reversal in the pulmonary veins is not expected in patients with atrial fibrillation, and such a finding is strongly associated with severe mitral regurgitant lesions.

Key Words: atrial fibrillation • Doppler echocardiography • mitral regurgitation • pulmonary venous inflow

Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Vol. 14, No. 1, 4-8 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/875647939801400103


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?