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(Circulation. 2000;102:2378.)
© 2000 American Heart Association, Inc.
Clinical Investigation and Reports |
Impact of Atrioventricular Compliance on Pulmonary Artery Pressure in Mitral Stenosis
An Exercise Echocardiographic Study
From the Heart Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel, and the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv.
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Abstract |
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 Top Abstract IntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionAppendix 1References |
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Background—The decay of the pressure gradient across a stenotic mitral valve is determined by the size of the orifice and net AV compliance (Cn). We have observed a group of symptomatic patients, usually in sinus rhythm, characterized by pulmonary hypertension (particularly during exercise) despite a relatively large mitral valve area by pressure half-time. We speculated that this discrepancy was due to low atrial compliance causing both pulmonary hypertension and a steep decay of the transmitral pressure gradient despite significant stenosis. We therefore tested the hypothesis that Cn is an important physiological determinant of pulmonary artery pressure at rest and during exercise in mitral stenosis.
Methods and Results—Twenty patients with mitral stenosis were examined by Doppler echocardiography. Cn, calculated from the ratio of effective mitral valve area (continuity equation) and the E-wave downslope, ranged from 1.7 to 8.1 mL/mm Hg. Systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) increased from 43±12 mm Hg at rest to 71±23 mm Hg (range, 40 to 110 mm Hg) during exercise. There was a particularly close correlation between Cn and exercise PAP (r=-0.85). Patients with a low compliance were more symptomatic (P<0.025). Catheter- and Doppler-derived values for Cn, determined in 10 cases, correlated well (r=0.79).
Conclusions—Cn, which can be noninvasively assessed, is an important physiological determinant of PAP in mitral stenosis. Patients with low Cn represent an important clinical entity, with symptoms corresponding to severe increases in PAP during stress echocardiography.
Key Words: mitral valve • echocardiography • exercise • hemodynamics
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Introduction |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionAppendix 1References |
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Calculation of mitral valve area (MVA) by the pressure half-time method is one of the most frequently performed diagnostic assessments in patients with mitral stenosis. It has been found to be a simple, useful, and reproducible tool to grade the severity of mitral stenosis.1 2 3 Its physical basis is the dependence of the pressure decay across a stenotic mitral valve on orifice size.4 Nevertheless, in a series of systematic investigations, ranging from theoretical analysis of the physical determinants of the pressure half-time and computational models5 6 to in vitro and clinical studies,7 8 9 Thomas and coworkers5 6 7 8 9 have demonstrated that the pressure decay across a stenotic mitral valve is also directly dependent on atrial or net AV compliance (Cn). They have shown that this becomes clinically important whenever abrupt changes of atrial pressure and compliance occur, such as in the first days after percutaneous balloon valvotomy, when calculations of MVA based on pressure half-time become inaccurate.9
We have recently observed a group of symptomatic patients with mitral stenosis who are characterized by significant pulmonary hypertension, particularly during exercise, despite a relatively large MVA by pressure half-time. We speculated that this discrepancy was due to low atrial compliance causing both high pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and a steep decay of the pressure gradient across the mitral valve despite significant stenosis.
The purpose of this study was therefore to systematically address the following hypotheses: (1) Cn, which can be noninvasively assessed from the slope of the transmitral velocity decay and effective MVA (calculated by the continuity equation), is an important physiological determinant of PAP at rest and during exercise in mitral stenosis; and (2) patients with low atrial compliance, characterized by a steep decay of the pressure gradient despite a significantly reduced MVA, represent an important clinical entity, with symptoms corresponding to severe increases in PAP during stress echocardiography.
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Methods |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionAppendix 1References |
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Patients
Thirty-five patients with mitral valve disease were consecutively referred to exercise Doppler echocardiography for hemodynamic evaluation during a period of 1 year. Of those, 20 patients had pure, isolated mitral stenosis. These patients made up the study group. There were 15 women and 5 men, 42 to 71 years of age (mean, 54±10 years). Four were in functional class I, 9 were in functional class II, and 7 were in functional class III. Seventeen were in sinus rhythm, and 3 were in atrial fibrillation.
Echocardiographic and Doppler Examinations
All patients underwent a complete standard
echocardiographic examination. Doppler velocity
tracings were recorded at a speed of 100 mm/s.
Exercise Protocol
The patients performed supine bicycle ergometry in a mild
left lateral position with an initial workload of 25 W, which was
increased by 25 W after 3 minutes, depending on the patient’s
capability. Exercise was continued until a heart rate of at least 70%
of the maximal predicted heart rate was reached; this level was
maintained as a plateau for 3 to 5 minutes to allow Doppler
interrogation at a stable heart rate.
Measurements at Rest and During Exercise
The duration of the diastolic filling period and
maximal and mean transmitral pressure gradients (Bernoulli equation)
were obtained from the continuous-wave Doppler signal of mitral
flow velocity. Stroke volume was calculated as left
ventricular outflow tract area multiplied by the time
integral of the outflow tract velocity (pulsed-wave Doppler).
Outflow tract area was determined as D2
/4,
where D is its diameter measured from a zoomed systolic
freeze-frame in the parasternal long-axis view. With the continuity
equation, MVA was calculated as stroke volume divided by mitral
time-velocity integral.10 11 12 Because left
ventricular outflow tract area has been shown to remain
constant during exercise both in normal subjects13 and in
patients with mitral stenosis,14 the resting value
of left ventricular outflow tract area was used to
calculate both rest and exercise stroke volume. Systolic PAP
was derived from the tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity (v) with the
modified Bernoulli equation (4v2) and assuming a
right atrial pressure of 10 mm Hg. For the 3 patients who were in
atrial fibrillation, measurements during 
5 cardiac cycles
representing the mean heart rate were averaged and used for
further calculations.15
Calculation of Net AV Compliance
Cn can be calculated from the deceleration
rate (dV/dt) of the mitral velocity profile (E-wave downslope) and
effective MVA, determined by the continuity equation, as demonstrated
by Flachskampf et al8 (see the Appendix):
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Interobserver variability was evaluated as the SD of the differences in Cn calculated by 2 independent observers for 10 different patients expressed as the percent of mean Cn (coefficient of variation) and was 7% of the mean. Intraobserver variability derived from repeated calculations 1 month apart was 6%.
Comparison Between Invasively and Noninvasively Determined
Compliance Calculations
In 10 patients with pure mitral stenosis who underwent
cardiac catheterization during the study period within
72 hours of the Doppler echocardiographic
examination, noninvasively and invasively determined
Cn were compared. Invasive assessment of
Cn was performed as described by Thomas et
al9 ; mean left atrial compliance
(Ca) was obtained by dividing the
systolic rise in pulmonary wedge pressure into the
cardiac stroke volume, which was calculated with the Fick method.
Similarly, mean left ventricular compliance
(Cv) was estimated as the diastolic
rise in left ventricular pressure divided into the stroke
volume. Cn was then calculated as
(1/Ca+1/Cv)-1.
Statistical Analysis
Differences between rest and exercise values were tested for
significance by use of a paired 2-sample t test. Linear
regression analysis was used to compare invasively and
noninvasively performed assessments of Cn and to
determine the correlation between net AV compliance and PAP. One-way
ANOVA was used to examine the relationship between functional class and
Cn.
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Results |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionAppendix 1References |
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Valvular Hemodynamics at Rest and During Exercise
The exercise-induced changes in valvular hemodynamics are displayed in Figure 1
. With the increase in heart rate during
exercise, the diastolic filling period was shortened from
420±118 to 256±67 ms (P<0.0005). Mean transmitral
pressure gradient increased from 8.3±4.0 to 18±7.1 mm Hg
(P<0.0005), with substantial differences in the magnitude
of increase in patients with comparable resting values. Stroke volume
did not change significantly on average (60±13 and 62±18 mL at rest
and during exercise, respectively). However, behavior was nonuniform,
with individual patients substantially raising stroke volume during
exercise and others showing no change or even a decline. Effective MVA
mildly but significantly (P<0.05) increased on average from
1.19±0.36 to 1.31±0.4 cm2, again with
substantial differences between individual patients. There was a
significant correlation between the percent increase in stroke volume
and the percent increase in MVA during exercise (r=0.54,
P<0.025).
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PAP and Net AV Compliance
Systolic PAP at rest was 43±12 mm Hg (range, 26 to
74 mm Hg) and increased to 71±23 mm Hg during exercise
(P<0.0005), with values ranging from 40 to 110 mm Hg
(Figure 2, left). Again, substantial
differences in the magnitude of increase during exercise were observed
in patients with comparable resting values. Cn,
ranged from 1.7 to 8.1 mL/mm Hg (4.7±1.7 mL/mm Hg on average). There
was a significant inverse correlation between Cn
and PAP at rest (r=0.73, P<0.05) and an even
closer correlation to exercise PAP (r=0.88,
P<0.0001; Figure 2, right). No correlation was found
between MVA and the response of PAP to exercise. No significant
correlation was found between left atrial size (systolic left
atrial area measured in the apical 4-chamber view) and
Cn.
|
) and during exercise
(•).
With a cutoff value of 
4 mL/mm Hg (lower third of values), patients
with low Cn were more symptomatic:
71% were in functional class III compared with 29% in the range of 4
to 6 mL/mm Hg and 0% with values 6 mL/mm Hg (P<0.025).
The only 2 patients who had suffered a short episode of
pulmonary edema were in the group of very low
Cn. Five patients in this group were referred to
interventional therapy (3 patients underwent mitral valve replacement;
2 patients, percutaneous mitral valvotomy) compared
with 1 patient in the range of 4 to 6 mL/mm Hg and 0 patients with
values 6 mL/mm Hg.
Figure 3 demonstrates a typical example
of a symptomatic patient with pure, isolated mitral
stenosis, a sizeable mean pressure gradient across the mitral
valve, and steep E-wave downslope, leading to a calculated MVA of 1.7
cm2 by the pressure half-time method. Using the
continuity equation reveals an effective MVA of 0.7
cm2. The steep E-wave deceleration is due to a
low Cn (2 mL/mm Hg) corresponding to high
systolic PAP at rest (74 mm Hg) and during exercise
(105 mm Hg). Other patients with a low Cn
showed only a moderate elevation of PAP at rest but comparably high
values during exercise (Figure 2
, right). The same constellation
is demonstrated by cardiac catheterization in Figure 4 (left) in 2 patients with remarkably
high V waves in the pulmonary wedge pressure tracing resulting
from low atrial compliance. The steep pressure decay (y
descent), corresponding to a steep velocity decay of the mitral E-wave
Doppler signal, would lead to overestimation of the MVA (0.9
cm2 by the Gorlin formula) when the pressure
half-time method is applied to the catheterization
data. PAP was 80/40 and 85/45 mm Hg, respectively.
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Overestimation of MVA by Pressure Half-Time as a Function of Net
AV Compliance
Figure 5 plots the percent
difference between the MVA calculated by the pressure half-time method
and the continuity equation against Cn. As
Cn dropped to <4 mL/mm Hg, overestimation
increased dramatically. The Table details the
individual results of MVA assessment by the 3 different methods, as
well as AV compliance in all 20 study subjects.
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Comparison Between Invasively and Noninvasively Determined Net
AV Compliance
In the 10 patients who underwent cardiac
catheterization, catheter- and Doppler-derived
values for Cn correlated reasonably well
(r=0.79, P<0.007, SEE=±0.57 mL/mm Hg; Figure 6).
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Discussion |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionAppendix 1References |
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The decay of the pressure gradient across a stenotic mitral orifice is determined by the size of the orifice and Cn.5 6 7 8 9 Therefore, the attempt of the pressure half-time method to estimate MVA empirically by assessing only 1 of the other variables (pressure decay) necessarily introduces an error of unknown magnitude, which is the result of the variation in Cn observed in mitral stenosis. This limitation of the pressure half-time method is well recognized in the setting of percutaneous mitral valvotomy, which induces substantial changes in chamber compliance within a short period of time.9 However, the magnitude of variation in Cn observed in this consecutive group of patients with mitral stenosis (>400%) suggests that the half-time method may be inaccurate in many cases even without outside intervention. This is consistent with the findings of Smith et al,16 who showed that although a pressure half-time of >250 ms predicted a MVA of <1.0 cm2 in 95% of the patients, a half-time of <200 ms identified a valve area >1.0 cm2 in only 78% of the patients, and a range of valve areas between 0.5 and 1.5 cm2 was observed for half-times between 200 and 250 ms.
In the present study, we have identified low Cn as a clinically relevant cause for significant overestimation of MVA precisely in a distinct group of symptomatic patients characterized by high PAP during exercise as a consequence of low Cn. We have demonstrated that Cn can be reliably and noninvasively assessed in the clinical setting and that it represents an important physiological parameter in mitral stenosis.
Net AV Compliance: A Physiological Modulator
of PAP
Flachskampf et al8 have presented analytic
and numeric evidence supporting the quantitative assessment of
Cn through analysis of transmitral
velocity profiles, deducing a simple equation that relates effective
MVA and E-wave downslope; this equation was then validated in vitro,
accurately predicting true net compliance. The present study shows
that Cn can be calculated noninvasively with good
reproducibility in the clinical setting, correlating well with
invasively determined values. Not surprisingly, given the variability
of the reference method (in addition to that tested) and the
nonsimultaneous assessment, the correlation coefficient was
lower than in the ideal in vitro comparison against a true gold
standard.8
Stress echocardiography offered the ideal
instrument to test the hypotheses stated in the introduction, because
it allows us to relate Cn to an independent
parameter of disease severity such as PAP and its response
to exercise.17 We found that Cn was
closely related to PAP, particularly during exercise. The primary
reason for this finding is that low atrial compliance will become
evident first during exercise, as left atrial pressure and PAP rise
significantly in response to increases in heart rate and flow. At a
later stage, particularly when pulmonary vascular resistance
increases, pulmonary hypertension may be present even at
rest (Figure 3).
No correlation was found between left atrial size and Cn. The reason for this finding is that Cn is defined operationally, expressing the actually observed pressure-volume relationship during left atrial discharge, regardless of its cause: It does not distinguish whether the patient operates on a steep left atrial pressure-volume curve or on the steep portion of a normal left atrial pressure-volume curve. In both cases, left atrial pressure and PAP are expected to be high. However, only in the first case (shifting between 2 different pressure-volume curves) would one expect Cn to increase with left atrial size; in the second case (shifting on 1 pressure-volume curve), Cn should decline as the left atrial volume is increased. This has interesting clinical implications: A patient with mitral stenosis and a relatively large atrium can still be a patient with a low Cn, sizable V waves, and high PAP. Atrial compliance cannot be guessed by the size of the atrium, because it requires information about volume and pressure, but it can be obtained by assessing compliance noninvasively, as proposed in the present study.
Cn is not equal to atrial compliance; however, in clinically relevant mitral stenosis, it is essentially dictated by atrial compliance. Because the atrium and ventricle behave like 2 capacitors in series, it is the reciprocal value of Ca and Cv that add up [(1/Ca+1/Cv)-1], so calculated net compliance is always lower than either of its 2 components.5 6 7 8 9 If additional cardiac pathology should cause a significant reduction in ventricular compliance and reduce Cn further, this should also be reflected in the behavior of PAP, maintaining the clinical value of Cn even in more complex physiologies.
Impaired ventricular compliance is unlikely to have played a role in the present study, because all patients had a normal global and regional left ventricular function at rest and during exercise, were normotensive, and had no clinical or imaging evidence of coronary artery disease or ventricular hypertrophy. Theoretically, pulmonary hypertension secondary to low atrial compliance could impair ventricular compliance (because of ventricular interdependence) and thus further reduce Cn. This would even expand the pathophysiological concept of Cn (pulmonary hypertension begetting pulmonary hypertension by affecting left ventricular compliance). In fact, a shortening of E-wave deceleration time with pulmonary hypertension has been reported.18 However, others have found a prolongation,19 and recently, a lack of ventricular interdependence has been reported in chronic severe pulmonary hypertension explained by pericardial adaptation.20 We therefore believe that low atrial compliance is the dominant factor in most patients with mitral stenosis.
The Syndrome of Short Pressure Half-Time in Severe Mitral
Stenosis: Mistaking Low Atrial Compliance for Mild Mitral
Stenosis
The clinical importance of our findings is emphasized by the fact
that patients characterized by a low Cn and a
dramatic response of PAP to exercise who would benefit most from
surgery or percutaneous mitral valvotomy were at the
highest risk of underestimation of disease severity (Figure 2, right, and Figure 5). Several patients were indeed referred to
our laboratory after they were misdiagnosed as having mitral
stenosis of a milder degree, because their relatively short
pressure half-time led to significant overestimation of MVA.
Factors in the clinical presentation, which contributed to
an underestimation of disease severity, included that these patients
were periodically relatively free of symptoms during everyday activity
despite significant disease. There was also a high incidence of sinus
rhythm, usually associated with a milder degree of stenosis. In
fact, a distinct group of patients with mitral stenosis,
usually young women, who present with paroxysmal dyspnea and
recurrent pulmonary edema has been described.21 22
These patients have tight mitral stenosis and left atrial
hypertension but a noncompliant left atrium and generally remain in
sinus rhythm.21 22 23 24 They may be relatively free from
symptoms during everyday activity but respond to stress, exertion,
emotion, fever, tachycardia, or occasionally premenstrual
fluid retention with episodes of pulmonary edema. The
present article provides a reliable tool to detect this potentially
underdiagnosed pathophysiology. This is important because without
procedural intervention these patients reach total disability and not
uncommonly death within 2 to 4 years of symptoms,21 22 23 24
but they respond particularly well to relief of mitral valve
obstruction.22 23 Most patients with a
Cn of 4 mL/mm Hg were at least periodically in
NYHA functional class III and finally underwent either balloon
valvotomy or mitral valve replacement with striking
symptomatic improvement.
Overestimation of MVA by misinterpretation of a short pressure
half-time can be avoided by calculating MVA using alternative
methods3 10 25 26 (the Table), particularly when
mitral pressure gradients are higher than expected for the observed
half-time. Cn should be calculated and PAP
assessed during stress echocardiography.
Comparison With Other Studies
The ability to assess the response of PAP to exercise in a
physiological setting is one of the most important
aspects of stress echocardiography in mitral
stenosis.27 28 In the present study,
substantial differences in the magnitude of increase in PAP during
exercise were observed in patients with comparable resting values,
clearly demonstrating the incremental value of stress
echocardiography in the hemodynamic
assessment of mitral stenosis. Tunick et al29
found that patients with mitral valve disease who are limited by
dyspnea show a significantly greater increase in PAP during exercise,
as well as a significantly shorter exercise capacity, than those who
are limited by fatigue. This is in keeping with results of the
present study, which demonstrates that patients with a low
Cn show substantial increases in PAP during
exercise and predominantly present with signs or symptoms of
pulmonary congestion. In accordance with the findings of Dahan
et al,14 we also observed a nonuniform behavior of stroke
volume during exercise in mitral stenosis, in which the ability
to raise stroke volume depends on an increase in MVA during
exercise.
Study Limitations
Although the determination of the E-wave downslope is usually
straightforward, because it is linear in most cases, the downslope can
be curved concave upward if Cn decreases during
atrial discharge.8 E-wave deceleration should then be
assessed with the average rather than the instantaneous slope method.
Determination of effective MVA with the continuity equation, although
accurate and subject to fewer limitations than alternative
methods,10 11 12 is more complex. The basic message of this
article remains unaffected by the limitations: Even in a case in which
Cn cannot be calculated precisely, the
combination of a high mean transmitral gradient and a steep pressure
decay suggests the presence of a low Cn, and a
substantial increase of PAP during stress
echocardiography is expected.
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Acknowledgments |
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This work was supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation, Jerusalem, Israel. We thank Yekira Chai, Lili Ezer, and Ziva Saidov for their dedicated assistance in performing and standardizing the stress echocardiographic examinations in our laboratory.
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Footnotes |
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Reprint requests to Ehud Schwammenthal, MD, Heart Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
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Appendix 1 |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionAppendix 1References |
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Following are the definition of net AV compliance and its derivation for noninvasive calculation as demonstrated by Flachskampf et al.8 Because the atrium and ventricle can be regarded as 2 capacitors in series, Cn is given by the sum of the reciprocal value of Ca and Cv:
 |
 |
 |
p/dt can
be substituted by 
v(dv/dt):
 |
 |
 |
is
blood density (1.05 g/cm3), and dV/dt
(cm/s2) is the deceleration rate of the mitral
velocity profile (or E-wave downslope). To express
Cn in cm3/mm Hg, the right
side of the equation is multiplied by 1333
(dynes/cm2)/mm Hg, and incorporating (which
is constant) yields this simple expression:
 |
Received February 21, 2000; revision received June 19, 2000; accepted June 19, 2000.
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References |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionAppendix 1References |
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