Assessment on the spatial structure of mitral annular in the normal subjects with real time three-dimensional echocardiography

Objective To investigate the changes of mitral annular shape during the cardiac cycle in the healthy subjects with real time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE). Methods Twenty-five healthy subjects underwent RT-3DE. The three-dimensional images were analyzed with Philips cardio-view analysis software QLab 6.0,mitral annular was reconstructed with three-dimensional structure image,and all indexes of mitral annular were calculated. Results Mitral annulus stereo configuration could be reconstructed accurately and annular parameters could be calculated with three-dimensional coordinate. The mitral annulus kept saddle shape during the cardiac cycle. The annular circumference,area,anteroposterior diameter,left-right diameter and height were smaller,but anteroposterior degree and left-right degree were larger in systole than those in diastole. Conclusion The annular stereo configuration can be three dimensional reconstructed accurately with RT-3DE,which can be used as a noninvasive method to research mitral annular dynamics in human being.