[Mobility of the mitral valve cusps in mitral stenosis studied by 2-dimensional echocardiography]

The object of the work was to disclose the possibilities of bimetric echocardiography in appraising the mobility of the mitral valve cusps in patients with mitral stenosis. The shape of the mitral cusp movement was studied in the longitudinal and transverse planes of the heart section. The results of the ultrasonic examinations were compared with the operative findings in 68 patients operated on for mitral stenosis. In satisfactory mobility of the valve, "sail-shaping" of the cusps is recorded in the longitudinal plane of the heart section and a concavity in the transverse plane in the period of diastole. In coarse fibrosis of the cusps, the diastolic movement of the surface of the anterior cusp is recorded as a displacement of a straight line which moves parallel to its initial position in the period of systole. Bimetric echocardiography makes it possible to determine exactly the character of the mitral valve lesion and determine the degree of mobility of the cusps in patients with mitral stenosis. This information may be decisive in choosing the method of surgical correction of the disease.