Left Atrial Pressure Pulse in Mitral Valve Disease

Left atrial pressures were determined by transbronchial puncture in 53 patients with mitral valve disease of proved type, and were analyzed by several methods. Two new methods of analysis, the rate of the y descent divided by the mean left atrial pressure, and the y descent for each 0.1-second interval divided by the mean left atrial pressure afforded the best separation of the patients with mitral insufficiency from those with mitral stenosis requiring a commissurotomy. In the presence of predominant mitral stenosis, however, the severity of accompanying mitral regurgitation could not be assessed.