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Mitral valve A wave and mitral stenosis
Author(s) -
Dabestani Ali,
Skorton David J.,
Child John S.,
Krivokapich Janine
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/jcu.1870090209
Subject(s) - medicine , stenosis , cardiology , sinus rhythm , mitral valve , mitral valve stenosis , atrial fibrillation
We examined M‐mode echocardiograms on 35 patients with catheterization‐proven mitral stenosis and normal sinus rhythm to determine whether the presence or absence of an A wave on the mitral echogram predicted mild versus severe mitral stenosis. Mitral valve area (MVA) was determined by the Gorlin formula. Presence of a mitral A wave was defined as 2 mm or greater anterior motion (after a well‐defined F point) of the anterior mitral leaflet. In six of 35 patients, the presence of an A wave was equivocal. Of the remaining 29 patients, 16 had no A wave and mean MVA = 1.18 cm 2 ± 0.45 (SD), and 13 patients had a definite A wave and mean MVA = 2.04 cm 2 ± 0.71. There was a significant difference (p < 0.001) between the mean MVA for patients with and without definite A waves. No patients with a definite A wave had an MVA less than 1.2 cm 2 . An A wave on the mitral echogram (in sinus rhythm) excludes severe mitral stenosis; when an A wave is not seen, no definite statement concerning severity of mitral stenosis can be made.