Hemodynamic aspects of mitral regurgitation assessed by generalized phase-contrast MRI

Purpose: Mitral regurgitation creates a high velocity jet into the left atrium (LA), contributing both volume andpressure; we hypothesized that the severity of regurgitation would be reflected in the degree of LA flowdistortion. Material and Methods: Three-dimensional cine PC-MRI was applied to determine LA flow patterns andturbulent kinetic energy (TKE) in seven subjects (five patients with posterior mitral leaflet prolapse, two normalsubjects). In addition, the regurgitant volume and the time-velocity profiles in the pulmonary veins weremeasured. Results: The LA flow in the mitral regurgitation patients was highly disturbed with elevated values of TKE.Peak TKE occurred consistently at late systole. The total LA TKE was closely related to the regurgitant volume.LA flow patterns were characterized by a pronounced vortex in proximity to the regurgitant jet. In some patients,pronounced discordances were observed between individual pulmonary venous inflows, but these could not berelated to the direction of the flow jet or parameters describing global LA hemodynamics. Conclusion: PC-MRI permits investigations of atrial and pulmonary vein flow patterns and TKE in significantmitral regurgitation, reflecting the impact of the highly disturbed blood flow that accompanies this importantvalve disease