[Tricuspid insufficiency and pulmonary hypertension in mitral disease: an echocardiographic study]

Tricuspid valve regurgitation and pulmonary hypertension have been evaluated with echo-color-Doppler technique in 100 patients (80 females and 20 males, mean age 54 years) affected by mitral valve stenosis. Pure mitral stenosis was present in 13 patients; 87 had an associated mitral regurgitation. The severity of mitral valve disease was based on the planimetric and functional (Doppler-derived) evaluation of valvular area. No relationship was found between extent of tricuspid regurgitation and severity of mitral valve disease, whereas pulmonary artery hypertension was significantly related to mitral valve involvement, above all Doppler mean gradient (r: 0.63, p < 0.005) and valvular area (r: -0.52, p < 0.01). The study suggests that in patients with mitral valve disease tricuspid regurgitation is independent of the degree of mitral valve involvement, whereas pulmonary hypertension is related to transvalvular gradient and to mitral valve area, but does not depend on the duration of the disease. This is evident only in patients who maintain the sinus rhythm.