[The double-orifice mitral valve. An evaluation by two-dimensional echocardiography and color echo-Doppler].

Double-orifice mitral valve is an uncommon congenital heart defect. The isolated occurrence of this anomaly is exceptional and, more often, is encountered in association with other congenital cardiac abnormalities. Principal among these are the partial and complete forms of the atrioventricular canal. In this paper, we present two cases of double-orifice mitral valve. Our first case is associated with subaortic stenosis and coarctation of aorta. The second case is an isolated one resembling a severe mitral stenosis. As we know, the diagnosis of this rare anomaly by color-Doppler technique has not been previously reported. We believe this technique provides definite anatomical and functional information about double-orifice mitral valve.