Abnormal aortic valve echoes in mitral prolapse. Echocardiographic features of floppy aortic valve

Systolic aortic valve flutter in 6 dogs

Systolic aortic valve flutter was identified by M-mode echocardiography in 6 large-breed dogs without evidence of structural cardiac disease. It ranged in amplitude, timing, and frequency. Systolic aortic valve flutter is considered an incidental and normal finding in some dogs, similar to the situation in humans.

Aortic valve prolapse with aortic regurgitation assessed by Doppler color-flow echocardiography

The incidence of and the Doppler color-flow echocardiographic characteristics of aortic valve prolapse with nonrheumatic aortic regurgitation were examined. Aortic valve prolapse was observed in 21 of 243 patients (15 men and 6 women) with aortic regurgitation as detected by Doppler color-flow echocardiography (rheumatic, 112; nonrheumatic, 131) in 1247 consecutive patients. Patients with aortic valve prolapse included three patients with essential hypertension and one with annuloaortic ectasia. The remaining 17 patients (7% of those with aortic regurgitation) had no other associated cardiovascular disease (idiopathic aortic valve prolapse). Prolapse of the mitral or the tricuspid valve or both was associated with aortic valve prolapse in seven patients. Aortic regurgitation jet was markedly deviated from the axis of left ventricular outflow tract toward the anterior mitral leaflet or the interventricular septum in 17 of 21 (81%) patients with aortic valve prolapse, whereas 28 of 110 (25%) patients with nonrheumatic aortic regurgitation without prolapse and 17 of 112 (15%) patients with rheumatic aortic regurgitation without prolapse showed the deviation of regurgitant jet (p < 0.001). In conclusion, idiopathic aortic valve prolapse is one of the significant causes of aortic regurgitation, and a marked deviation of regurgitant jet is a characteristic Doppler color-flow echocardiographic finding of aortic regurgitation that results from aortic valve prolapse.

Prevalence and clinical significance of aortic valve prolapse

The prevalence and clinical significance of aortic valve prolapse were determined prospectively in 2000 consecutive patients undergoing routine clinical cross sectional echocardiography. Two hundred and twelve patients were excluded because the aortic cusps were not adequately visualised. Aortic valve prolapse was defined as downward displacement of cuspal material below a line joining the points of attachment of the aortic valve leaflets. Twenty four cases of aortic valve prolapse (1.2%) were identified. The patients were aged 12-64 years and nine were women. All had underlying valvar heart disease and the commonest lesion (in 11 cases) was prolapse of the larger cusp in bicuspid valves. Aortic valve prolapse was seen in four patients with mitral valve prolapse (two with severe regurgitation), one of whom had marfanoid aortic root dilatation. The remaining examples of aortic prolapse were seen in patients with various disorders including one with pulmonary atresia, two with aortic root disease (one with dissection and one with idiopathic dilatation), and one case of severe mitral regurgitation. Valves destroyed by infective endocarditis were seen in two cases. Aortic valve prolapse may be detected in various cardiac disorders and does not imply the presence of aortic regurgitation, but when bicuspid aortic valves are present it may well be important in producing such regurgitation. Although aortic valve prolapse may be associated with severe forms of mitral valve prolapse, these patients rarely have aortic regurgitation.

Comparison of echocardiography and angiography in determining the cause of severe aortic regurgitation

To assess the accuracy of echocardiography in determining the cause of aortic regurgitation M mode and cross sectional echocardiography were compared with angiography in 43 patients with predominant aortic regurgitation. Each patient had all three investigations performed during the same admission to hospital. In each instance, the cause of aortic regurgitation was confirmed at surgery or necropsy. Seventeen patients had rheumatic aortic valve disease, 13 bacterial endocarditis with a perforated or partially destroyed cusp, five a bicuspid aortic valve (four with a history of endocarditis), and eight aortic regurgitation secondary to aortic root dilatation or aneurysm. Overall sensitivity of echocardiography and aortography was 84% in determining the cause of aortic regurgitation. Thus, rheumatic valve disease and endocarditis appear to be the most common causes of severe aortic regurgitation in this hospital based population. Furthermore, echocardiography is a sensitive non-invasive technique for determining the cause of aortic regurgitation and allows differentiation of valvular from root causes of aortic regurgitation.