Doppler ultrasound of normally functioning mechanical mitral and aortic valve prostheses

Doppler ultrasound flow velocities across clinically normally functioning mitral (Bjork-Shiley, Medtronic Hall, Lillehei-Kaster, Duromedic and Starr-Edwards) and aortic (Bjork-Shiley, Medtronic Hall, Lillehei-Kaster and Duromedic) valve prostheses are described. To enable ease of reference for the echocardiographer and to avoid the need for time-consuming calculations of pressure drops and effective valve orifice areas, peak flow velocities and, where relevant, pressure half times across valves of different types and sizes are tabulated. In the mitral position, there was significant negative correlation between peak velocity and valve size and between pressure half time and valve size only when a large number and a wide range of sizes of a given type of mitral prosthesis was studied. Similarly, there was significant negative correlation between peak velocity and aortic valve size for Bjork-Shiley and Duromedic valves. Regurgitant jets were detected across 18.4% of mitral and 42% of aortic prostheses.