ANALYSIS OF MITRAL VALVE MORPHOLOGY WITH REAL-TIME 3-DIMENSIONAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN DOGS UNDERGOING MITRAL VALVE REPAIR

摘要

Three-dimensional (3D) saddle shape of the mitral valve annulus was first reported in 1987 by Levine and colleagues. Previous studies showed annulus height to commissural width ratio (AHCWR), an index parameter for saddle-shape of mitral annulus, is preserved across mammalian species (15-20%). This suggests that nature conserves the saddle-shaped annulus for mechanical benefit. Menciotti et al described 3D transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) of normal dogs and AHCWR was 21 ±0.05%. There are no reports on 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) studies on dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). This study aims to evaluate mitral valve annulus morphology using 3D TEE in dogs with MMVD.