Mitral valve area by colour flow imaging.

Colour Doppler assessment of mitral valve area was carried out in 78 patients with mitral stenosis. The mitral valve area was calculated using the equation pi/4 (a x b), where a = color jet width at the mitral valve in the apical long axis view and b = width of the color jet in a 90 degree rotated view from the apex. The valve area obtained from the color jet was compared with the valve area obtained from the pressure half time. It was found that there was a good correlation between these two measurements (r = 0.82; p < 0.001) while 2D echo derived mitral valve area correlated at an r value of 0.80 (p < 0.001). It is concluded that the new method can be used as an adjunct to currently available methods to assess the severity of mitral stenosis.