Why the study?
Does the mitral annulus shrink or enlarge during systole in normal subjects?
Does the mitral annulus shrink or enlarge during systole in normal subjects?
Real-time 3D echocardiography demonstrates that the normal mitral annulus enlarges and becomes less non-planar during systole, primarily in the antero-posterior direction.
This study was conducted to explore the geometrical changes of the mitral annulus during systole. The 3D shape of the mitral annulus was reconstructed in 13 normal subjects who had normal structure of the mitral apparatus using real-time 3D echocardiography (RT3DE) and 3D computer software. The two orthogonal (antero-posterior and commissure-commissure) dimensions, the areas (2D projected and 3D surface) and the non-planarity of the mitral annulus were estimated during early, mid and late systole. We demonstrated that the MA had a "saddle shape" appearance and it consistently enlarged mainly in the antero-posterior direction from early to late systole with lessening of its non-planarity, as was determined by 3D reconstruction using RT3DE and 3D computer software.
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Kwan et al. (2009) studied this question.
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