Biochemical analysis and electron microscopy of human mitral valve collagen in patients with various etiologies of mitral valve diseases.

35 human mitral valves, including 29 from patients who underwent mitral valve replacement due to various mitral valve diseases (15 rheumatic heart disease, 8 spontaneously isolated rupture of chordae tendineae, 6 floppy mitral valve; 21 men, 8 women, age 17-68 years) and 6 normal control valves obtained at necropsy.

Normal mitral valves obtained at necropsy from 6 patients who died from extracardiac causes

Collagen composition and primary molecular structure assessed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and electron microscopy of segment-long-spacing crystallitessurrogate