• Woong Gil Choi, Soo Hyun Kim, Soo Han Kim, Sang Don Park, Young Soo Baek, Sung Hee Shin, Sung Il Woo, Dae Hyeok Kim, Keum Soo Park, and Jun Kwan.
• Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University College of Medicine, Chungju, Korea.
• Yonsei Med. J. 2014 May 1; 55 (3): 592-8.

PurposeFunctional mitral regurgitation (FMR) and myocardial dyssynchrony commonly occur in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The aim of this study was to elucidate changes in FMR in relation to those in left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony as well as geometric parameters of the mitral valve (MV) in DCM patients during dobutamine infusion.Materials And MethodsTwenty-nine DCM patients (M:F=15:14; age: 62±15 yrs) with FMR underwent echocardiography at baseline and during peak dose (30 or 40 ug/min) of dobutamine infusion. Using 2D echocardiography, LV end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume (LVESV), ejection fraction (EF), and effective regurgitant orifice area (ERO) were estimated. Dyssynchrony indices (DIs), defined as the standard deviation of time interval-to-peak myocardial systolic contraction of eight LV segments, were measured. Using the multi-planar reconstructive mode from commercially available 3D image analysis software, MV tenting area (MVTa) was measured. All geometrical measurements were corrected (c) by the height of each patient.ResultsDuring dobutamine infusion, EF (28±8% vs. 39±11%, p=0.001) improved along with significant decrease in cLVESV (80.1±35.2 mm³/m vs. 60.4±31.1 mm³/m, p=0.001); cMVTa (1.28±0.48 cm²/m vs. 0.79±0.33 cm²/m, p=0.001) was significantly reduced; and DI (1.31±0.51 vs. 1.58±0.68, p=0.025) showed significant increase. Despite significant deterioration of LV dyssynchrony during dobutamine infusion, ERO (0.16±0.09 cm² vs. 0.09±0.08 cm², p=0.001) significantly improved. On multivariate analysis, ΔcMVTa and ΔEF were found to be the strongest independent determinants of ΔERO (R²=0.443, p=0.001).ConclusionRather than LV dyssynchrony, MV geometry determined by LV geometry and systolic pressure, which represents the MV closing force, may be the primary determinant of MR severity.

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