Character of mitral valve flow in left atrial tumor.

The pulsed Doppler echocardiography (PDE) was used to evaluate the character of mitral valve flow in a large atrial tumor. The tumor obstructed the mitral orifice during diastole. PDE findings, however, showed normal triphasic diastolic flow within the actual mitral orifice and no changes typical for mitral stenosis. The same turbulence pattern as in mitral stenosis was detected in the left ventricle. In addition, PDE revealed the presence of mild mitral regurgitation in agreement with angiography.