Mitral Valve Prolapse: Novel Assessment With Real-Time 3D Echocardiography

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is the most common cause ofmitral regurgitation and the most frequent reason for mitralvalve surgery in Europe. The most traditional methodfor mitral valve evaluation has been two-dimensional (2D)transthoracic echocardiography. However, soon after its development,intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography(TEE) became the preferable imaging method for boththe perioperative decision-making process and postoperativeevaluation after mitral valve surgery. Improved imaging modalitiesand implementation of real-time 3D TEE provided enface views of the mitral valve from the left atrial perspective,and this method soon became the new gold standard for thediagnosis of MVP. Modern 3D echocardiographic imagingprovides three general modalities: volume rendered, biplaneor multi-plane, and color Doppler imaging. In this report, wedescribe the clinical implications of three-dimensional (3D)TEE in mitral valve reconstruction after MVP