Accuracy of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography for estimating the severity of functional mitral regurgitation.

Although intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is used to guide mitral valve reconstructive procedures, the effects of hemodynamic alterations accompanying general anesthesia on mitral regurgitation (MR) are unknown. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of general anesthesia on MR jet size using TEE with color Doppler imaging in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery. Matched preoperative TEEs performed with the patient under intravenous conscious sedation, and intraoperative studies performed with the patient under general anesthesia were retrospectively reviewed in 46 patients undergoing mitral valve surgery. Patients were divided into groups based on etiology of MR, including 21 patients with myxomatous degeneration and leaflet flail, 19 patients with structurally normal leaflets and functional regurgitation due to abnormal leaflet coaptation, and 6 patients with rheumatic mitral disease. On both preoperative and intraoperative studies, regurgitation was quantified using maximal jet area and jet diameter at the vena contracta on color flow Doppler. Patients with leaflet flail and patients with functional MR had similar measures of regurgitation severity on preoperative imaging. On intraoperative imaging, regurgitant jet size was unchanged compared with preoperative studies among patients with leaflet flail (jet diameter 1.04 +/- 0.26 vs 1.10 +/- 0.28 cm, area 9.8 +/- 4.5 vs 10.1 +/- 5.2 cm2 on preoperative studies), although jet size decreased significantly in patients with functional MR (jet diameter 0.79 +/- 0.33 vs 1.10 +/- 0.29 cm [p < 0.001], area 5.7 +/- 3.5 vs 10.0 +/- 3.8 cm2 [p < 0.001] on preoperative studies). These findings were not accounted for by variation in heart rate, blood pressures, echocardiographic instrumentation, or Doppler Nyquist limit.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)