Two-dimensional transthoracic measure of mitral annulus in mitral valve prolapse and moderate to severe regurgitation: a method comparison analysis with three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography

Background Mitral annulus (MA) area is derived during transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) assuming of a circular shape using the MA diameter from the apical 4 chamber (A4c) view. Since the MA is not a circular structure, we hypothesized that an elliptical model using parasternal long-axis (PLAX) and apical 2 chamber (A2c) view measured MA diameters would have better agreement with 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D TEE) measured MA in degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD). Methods Seventy-six patients with moderate-to-severe DMVD had 2D TTE and 3D TEE performed. MA area was measured retrospectively using semi-automatic modeling of 3D data (3D TEE sa ) and considered as the reference method. MA diameters were measured using different 2D TTE views. MA area was calculated using assumptions of a circular or an elliptical shape. 2D TTE derived and 3D TEE sa . MA areas were compared using linear regression and Bland-Altman analysis. Results The median MA area measured at 3D TEE sa was 1,386 (1,293–1,673) mm 2 . With 2D TTE, the circular model using A4c view diameter resulted in a small systematic underestimation of MA area (6%), while the elliptical model using PLAX and A2c diameters resulted in 25% systematic underestimation. The standard deviations of the distributions of inter-method differences were wide for all 2D TTE methods (265–289 mm 2 ) when compared to 3D TEE sa , indicating imprecision. Conclusions When compared with 3D TEE sa modeling of the MA as the reference, the assumption of a circular shape using A4c TTE view diameter was the method with the least systematic error to assess MA area in DMVD and moderate to severe regurgitation.