Echocardiographic decision-making for replacement surgery in mitral valve prolapse.

The clinical usefulness of M-mode echocardiography for predicting severe mitral regurgitation (MR) requiring valve replacement was assessed in 16 men and 10 women with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) as sole primary cardiac disorder. From left ventricular (LV) angiography, MR was classified as none to moderate (8 cases, group A) or severe (18 cases, group B). At echocardiography, increased LV end-diastolic and end-systolic and left atrial (LA) dimensions, corrected for body-surface area, distinguished group B from group A, with the best validities for LA and LV end-diastolic values. The mean echocardiographic LV fractional shortening and ejection fraction (EF) and the angiographic EF were similar in both groups. Echocardiographic and angiocardiographic LV EF correlated poorly, the former usually overestimating the latter. LV end-diastolic and mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressures were highest in group B, and the latter correlated with echocardiographic LA size. Mitral valve replacement was subsequently performed on 15 of the 18 group B patients. M-mode echocardiography is a valuable adjuvant to clinical assessment of MVP for predicting MR severity and for time-planning of cardiac catheterization or mitral valve surgery.