Characteristic pulsed Doppler findings in patients with flail mitral valve

Pulsed mode Doppler findings in the left atrium were studied in 18 patients with moderate to severe catheterization-proven mitral regurgitation, four with and 14 without flail mitral valve. Atypical markedly turbulent antegrade flow in the left atrium was observed in all four patients with flail mitral valve, whereas the typical retrograde mitral regurgitation pattern of flow was observed in the 14 patients without flail mitral valve. This Doppler pattern appears to be indicative of a flail mitral valve.