Mitral valve regurgitation is a powerful factor of left ventricular hypertrophy

INTRODUCTION Mitral valve regurgitation (MR) is a common abnormality found on echocardiography which in its advanced stage is a major cause of congestive heart failure. Cardiac remodeling associated with MR is caused by volume overload, dilatation and enlargement of the left ventricle and atrium. OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to evaluate hemodynamic consequences of MR both for the cardiac chambers and hypertrophy. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 1432 patients (mean age 54 ±15 years, male – 55%) with MR recorded in the transthoracic echocardiography database. Associations between the stage of MR and other variables in these patients were analyzed. RESULTS More advanced grades of MR were associated with progressive enlargement of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dimensions. LV ejection fraction (LVEF) was significantly decreasing with increased MR severity. A significant increase in the left atrial dimension and LV mass was observed. In multivariate regression analysis the grade of MR (p <0.0001), age (p <0.0001), endsystolic stress of LV (p <0.0001), LV fractional shortening (p <0.0001) and LVEF (p <0.05) were found to be independently associated with LV mass. The strongest linear correlations were found between LV mass and endsystolic stress of LV (r = 0.52, p <0.0001), the grade of MR (r = 0.32, p <0.0001) and ejection fraction (r = –0.29, p <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS MR alters cardiac dimensions and function parameters and is also one of the strongest factors that increase LV hypertrophy.