[Mitral insufficiency in obstructive myocardiopathies. Hemodynamic study and cineangiography]

A haemodynamic and 2-plane cine-angiographic study of 23 patients with obstructive cardiomyopathy has shown that the mitral valve has a limited opening capacity, an unusually anterior position in early systole and is displaced anteriorly during systole. Mitral incompetence is present in more than half of the cases, but usually remains as the only lesion. When it is severe, it is because there are additional lesion: perforation, rupture of the cordae. The behaviour of the mitral valve was fairly constant in all 15 cases of hypertrophic, hyperkinetic, cardiomyopathy, and mitral incompetence was common, and usually found in isolation. The mechanism is discussed, and the physiopathological and therapeutic implications of these facts are reviewed.