Echocardiographic right ventricular function assessment before and after successful percutaneous mitral commissurotomy.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: In patients with mitral stenosis (MS), previous studies have shown discordant results with regards to improvements in right ventricular (RV) function immediately after percutaneous mitral commissurotomy (PMC). Hence, the study aim was to evaluate the impact of PMC on RV function, by using Doppler-echocardiography.

METHODS

A total of 41 patients with severe symptomatic MS, in sinus rhythm, who had been referred to the authors' institution for PMC, was prospectively enrolled. A group of 25 healthy age- and gender-matched subjects served as controls. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was performed on the day before and at 24/48 h after PMC. The RV function was evaluated using the Tricuspid Annular Plane Excursion (TAPSE), the RV Tei index, and systolic myocardial velocities by Doppler tissue imaging peak isovolumic contraction (DTI(IVC)) and peak systolic (DTI(S)) at the lateral tricuspid annulus).

RESULTS

All patients but three underwent a successful PMC. The mitral valve area (MVA) was significantly increased (1.8 +/- 0.3 versus 1.1 +/- 0.2 cm2, p <0.0001), while the mean gradient (5 +/- 2 versus 10 +/- 7 mmHg, p <0.0001) and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (40 +/- 10 versus 54 +/- 21 mmHg, p = 0.0002) were decreased. Compared to healthy controls, the RV dysfunction in MS patients was authenticated by the DTI(IVC) and the Tei index (8.4 +/- 3.0 versus 11.1 +/- 2.1 cm/s, p = 0.0002 and 0.33 +/- 0.10 versus 0.18 +/- 0.10 respectively, p <0.0001), but not by DTI(S) (12.9 +/- 3 versus 12.3 +/- 1.5 cm/s, p = 0.35) or TAPSE (24 +/- 5 versus 23 +/- 3 mm, p = 0.50). After PMC, no significant change regarding RV function was observed (TAPSE: 24 +/- 5 versus 24 +/- 5 mm, p = 0.54; Tei Index: 0.33 +/- 0.10 versus 0.36 +/- 0.12, p = 0.20; DTI(IVC): 8.4 +/- 3.0 versus 9.2 +/- 3.4 cm/s, p = 0.08 and DTI(S): 12.9 +/- 3.0 versus 13.0 +/- 3.4 cm/s, p = 0.54).

CONCLUSION

The DTI(IVC) and Tei index appear to serve as the more sensitive indices of RV dysfunction in patients with MS. Immediately after a successful PMC, no significant change in Doppler echocardiographic parameters of RV function was observed. Whether late improvement in RV function can be observed, and the prognostic value of these parameters realized, deserve further investigation.