Quantification of heart valve regurgitation: a critical analysis from a theoretical and experimental point of view

A theoretical analysis is presented regarding factors of importance for the determination of distance of intrusion of the regurgitant jet in heart valve regurgitation. The analysis is based on hydrodynamic theory. In the idealized model situation, for a circular hole, the intrusion of the regurgitant jet is linearly related to the product of the fluid mean velocity in the orifice and the diameter of the orifice. This was also shown to be true in an experimental fluid model. Thus, volume regurgitation cannot be quantified by the measurement of distance of intrusion of the regurgitant jet alone. On the other hand, an estimate of volume regurgitation can, in the idealized situation, be obtained if mean fluid velocity in the orifice, distance of intrusion of the jet and regurgitation time are known.