[Color Doppler identification of early diastolic turbulence in the left atrium in patients with mitral valve insufficiency: persistence of regurgitation or inertia phenomenon?].

Color Doppler flow mapping represents the most recent non invasive diagnostic tool for the visualization of intracardiac blood flow. By using the color Doppler flow mapping technique, two independent observers identified the persistence of turbulence in early diastole inside the left atrium in a selected group of 8 patients (3 F and 5 M) with mitral insufficiency. All the patients had moderate or severe mitral insufficiency, due to dilated cardiomyopathy and/or ischemic cardiomyopathy and/or valvular disease. The persistence of early diastolic turbulence inside the left atrium was documented and confirmed by using 30 degrees color sector images, which show the highest possible frame rate. The frame by frame analysis facilitated the identification of two simultaneous flow velocities during early diastole, after the mitral valve was open. The first flow was anterograde and was coded as a red signal; it flowed from the mitral valve into the left ventricle and represented early diastolic left ventricular filling. The second flow was retrograde, and was coded as a blue mosaic signal, due to turbulent aliased jet, extending from the mitral valve into the left atrium, away from the transducer. The interpretation of these two dimensional color Doppler findings is uncertain. We believe, however, that these turbulent velocity signals which persist in early diastole and flow from the mitral valve into the left atrium are probably caused by inertial blood flow due to the impact of regurgitant mitral jets during the previous systole.