Morphological Investigations of theAnterior Leaflet and its Chordae
Tendineae in Canine Mitral Valves
Takuma Aoki
Yoko Fujii
Hiroshi Sunahara
Keisuke Sugimoto
Yoshito Wakao
Laboratory of Veterinary Surgery I, Azabu University, 1-17-71 Fuchinobe,
Chuo-ku, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa, Japan, zip 252-5201
Correspondence: Takuma Aoki, DVM, Ph.D., Laboratory of Veterinary Surgery I,
Azabu University, 1-17-71 Fuchinobe, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa, Japan,
Zip 252-5201; Tel +81-42-754-7111; Fax +81-42-850-2456
This study was performed at the Laboratory of Veterinary Surgery I,
Azabu University and Azabu University Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
We have no conflicts of interest.

KEY WORDS: morphology, mitral valve,anterior leaflet, myxomatous mitral valve
disease, dogs
ABSTRACT
Although mitral valve repair (MVR)—for
mitral regurgitation (MR) secondary tochronic valvular heart disease (CVHD)—
is becoming more common in veterinary
medicine, there is little information about
the morphology of the mitral valve apparatus that is used to guide veterinary
surgeons. Therefore, we investigated thelocations of MR using echocardiography in
12 client-owned dogs with MR. Nine (75%)
of these dogs had MR arising from the tipof the anterior leaflet (AL). In addition, weinvestigated the morphology of the AL andits chordae tendineae by examining the heart
specimens of 10 healthy beagles. The tip of
the AL—determined by echocardiography
as the cause of MR—was secured by theIntern J Appl Res Vet Med • Vol. 13, No. 3, 2015.

chordae tendineae (CT), which were thinnerthan those attached to the base of the AL oneach papillary muscle (anterior and posterior papillary muscle; p = 0.0186 and p =0.0198, respectively). In the normal AL, thefree edge of the posterior half was broader
than that of the anterior half (p = 0.0001).
In conclusion, the CT attached to the tipof the AL might be a contributor of MR indogs because of its thin nature. It should bereconstructed during MVR, since the tip ofthe valve cusp in the left ventricle is secured
for mitral valve coaptation. The posterior
half of the anterior leaflet might require theuse of more artificial chords because of its
wide free edge.
INTRODUCTION
Mitral regurgitation (MR) caused by chronic
valvular heart disease (CVHD) is the mostcommon acquired heart disease among old
dogs.1-2 In this condition, the valve cusps are159thickened and the chordae
Figure 1. Echocardiography for the estimation of the locatendineae (CT) are extended
tion of the MR. CT elongation at the tip, base, or both were
and/or ruptured.2 Left-sided
surmised according to the site where blood flow acceleration
heart failure caused by MR
was observed during MR based on (a) the right parasternal
is commonly managed by
4-chamber view and (b) the right parasternal short axis view
medical treatments. Howat the level of the mitral valve.
ever, surgical management
LA, left atrium; LV, left ventricle; BFA, blood flow accelerais becoming more common,tion; CT, chordae tendineae; AL, anterior leaflet; APM,
particularly in dogs withanterior papillary muscle; PPM, posterior papillary muscle.
refractory MR.3-6 Althoughsurgical management includes
mitral valve repair (MVR)
and mitral valve replacement,
MVR is currently the mostappropriate surgical treatment for dogs with MR, sincemitral valve replacement requires a costly artificial valve
and lifelong anticoagulant
administration.
The anterior leaflet (AL,known as the septal leaflet) is
usually affected in dogs with
MR,2, 7 whereas the posterior
leaflet (known as the muralleaflet) is more commonly(5 males, 2 neutered males, 3 females, andaffected in humans with MR.8, 9 However,
2 spayed females) that were admitted toalthough anatomical and physical appreciathe Cardiology Service, Veterinary Teachtion of target organs is required for performing Hospital, Azabu University, in 2010. Of
ing accurate surgery, there is little available
these 12 dogs, 5 were Cavalier King Charles
information regarding the detailed morpholspaniels, 2 were Shih Tzu, and 1 each was
ogy of the mitral valve leaflet and its CT for
Maltese, miniature schnauzer, papillon,
veterinary surgeons during MVR.
Shetland sheepdog, and mixed breeds. The
Therefore, the objective of the present
mean (SD) age and body weight were 10.1
study was to describe in detail the morpho(3.5) years and 7.2 (2.2) kg, respectively.
logical and physical properties of the canine
The American College of Veterinary Internal
AL in order to guide veterinary surgeons in
Medicine (ACVIM) stages B1, B2, and C
clinical practice.
were 5, 4, and 3, respectively.1
MR was diagnosed after a thorough
MATERIALS AND METHODS
physicalexamination, thoracic radiography,
Animals
and two-dimensional, M-mode, Doppler
This study was approved by the ethicalechocardiography.
committee of Azabu University and wasAfter obtaining the approval of ourconducted in accordance with the guidelines
university’s
animal research committee,
established by the Animal Welfare Act andcardiacmorphology
was investigated using
the National Institutes of Health Guide for
whole
heart
specimens
obtained from 10
Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
clinically healthy beagles that were euthaWe included 12 consecutive clientnized for purposes other than the present
owned dogs with MR secondary to CVHD
study. The mean (SD) body weight and the160

Vol. 13, No.3, 2015 • Intern J Appl Res Vet Med.

mean (SD) age of the 10 beagles (3 males
and 7 females) were 10.3 (1.3) kg and 1.7(0.2) years, respectively. They all underwent
complete physical and echocardiographic
examinations before being euthanized. Noneof these dogs had MR based on the examinations mentioned above.
Echocardiographic methods to detect
extended (or ruptured) CT
All the dogs were examined with the Vivid 7
Dimension cardiovascular ultrasound system(GE Healthcare Japan Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), with mechanical phased arraytransducer frequencies ranging from 2 to 5,
3.1 to 8, and 4 to 11.5 MHz. The echocar-

diographic view was obtained
according to the guidelinesof the American Society of
Echocardiography.10 Rightparasternal long and shortaxis views were obtained andcolor Doppler echocardiography was used to visualize themitral valve region. Elongation of the CT was surmised
from the prolapse of valve
cusps7 and the locations ofblood flow acceleration insystole (Figure 1).
Morphological investigationof the heart specimens
The left ventricular freewall of each heart specimen
was dissected longitudinally
between the anterior papillarymuscle (APM) and the posterior papillary muscle (PPM,
A). The valve cusp was classified into two parts: tip andbase. Figure 2B shows the
AL, CT, and papillary muscle
in a right parasternal 4-chamber echocardiographic view.
The images of the mitralvalve apparatus were obtained using a digital camera,
and were uploaded to a computer. The following parameters were measured using
a computer software (Excel
measurement of lengths and areas, Free Ver.
2.00, Copyright 2003, 2004, Furu, Japan):the length of each free edge of the AL for
the anterior and posterior halves (Figure 2A;
lengths from the annulus to the CT attachedto the tip of the AL) and the width of the CTat the thinnest site (Figure 2B bottom; dotted
outlines).
Statistical analysis
To compare the 2 groups, the Student t test
was used for cases in which normality wasobserved in the result of the chi-squared(χ2¬) goodness-of-fit test in both groups,
and when the two groups had equal popula-Intern J Appl Res Vet Med • Vol. 13, No. 3, 2015.

161

Figure 2. Morphological investigations conducted withhealthy beagles. The lengths of the anterior (blue line) andposterior halves (red line) were measured from the annulus(yellow dotted line) to the CT attached to the tip of the AL(a, top). The sites in which the CT attached to the tip of the
AL (yellow circle) and the base of the AL (yellow box) wereindicated (a, bottom). The widths of the CT were measured
at the thinnest site (b, bottom; yellow dotted outlines) oneach papillary muscle. The anatomical image (b, bottom)
is equivalent to a right parasternal 4-chamber echocardiographic view (b, top). The CT attached to the tip of the AL
secured the mitral valve in the left ventricle for coaptation of
the mitral valve. The thin CT branched from the wider CT (b,bottom; arrows).
RA, right atrium; RV, right ventricle; LA, left atrium; LV, left
ventricle; APM, anterior papillary muscle; PPM, posterior papillary muscle; CT, chordae tendineae; AL, anterior
leaflet.

tion variance values obtained by the F test.
The Welch t test was used for cases in which
the population variance values were notequal, and the Mann-Whitney U test wasused for cases in which normality was notobserved in either groups.
The results are expressed as median(range) or mean (SD). A p value of < 0.05
was considered statistically significant. All
the statistical procedures were performed using the Ekuseru-Toukei 2010 (Social Survey
Research Information Co., Ltd., Tokyo,
Japan) statistical software.
RESULTS
Estimation of Extended CT Using Color
Doppler Echocardiography
Based on the echocardiography, nine dogs(75%) had AL prolapse while the remaining three dogs (25%) had bileaflet prolapse.
We determined that the CT attached to thetip of the AL was elongated in the nine dogs(75%), since the blood flow acceleration wasobserved in the tip of the AL. Similarly, we
determined that the CT attached to the baseof the AL was elongated in one dog (8.3%),
and those attached to the tip and base of the
AL was elongated in 2 dogs (16.7%).
Morphological Investigation of HeartSpecimens
The CT attached to the tip of the AL secured
the tip of the AL in the left ventricle in allheart specimens. The median (range) lengthof the anterior half of the AL was 1.18 cm(0.92–1.64 cm) and that of the posterior half
was 1.64 cm (1.38–1.80 cm). The posterior
half of the AL was significantly longer than
the anterior half (p = 0.0001).
In the APM, the median (range) widthsof the CT attached to the base and tip were0.65 mm (0.50–1.00 mm) and 0.45 mm(0.30–0.70 mm), respectively. The former
was significantly wider than the latter (p =0.0186). In the PPM, the median (range)
widths of the CT attached to the base and tip
were 0.70 mm (0.60–1.00 mm) and 0.55 mm(0.40–1.00 mm), respectively. The former
was significantly wider than the latter (p =0.0198).

162

DISCUSSION
Although medical treatment is the mostcommon option in dogs with MR, it has
limitations since MR is a progressive disease.2 Therefore, MVR is the radical surgeryof choice for MR since it does not requirea costly artificial valve and lifelong anticoagulant administration. It is becoming morecommon, particularly in dogs with refractory
MR.3, 5, 6 However, the procedure of MVR iscomplex because the severely affected mitralvalve apparatus should be reconstructed using only artificial sutures and sheets. In addition, to the authors’ knowledge, there is little
information about the detailed morphologyof the mitral valve apparatus used by veterinary surgeons, although that knowledge
is essential to performing an accurate MVR
procedure.
In the present study, we suggested
that prolapse of the tip of the AL was themain cause of MR in dogs and that the
CT attached to the tip of the AL should bereconstructed during MVR. Indeed, previous study has shown that the CT attached tothe tip of the AL was ruptured in dogs with
MR.11 The CT attached to the tip and baseof the AL seemed equivalent to the humanmarginal and strut chordae, respectively.
As observed in humans, the strut chordae
was wider than the marginal chordae in thepresent study.12-14 The strength of a material
is proportional to its cross-sectional area.17
Therefore, although the marginal chordae
has smaller loads than the strut chordate,15,
16
they might be prone to elongation becauseof their thin nature. The thinner CT might
be more sensitive to breaking caused by
fatigue. Conversely, because of their large
cross-sectional area, the strut chordae might
be strong enough to bear the heavy repeatedload. Indeed, strut chordae bear the heaviest blood pressure load of all the CT.15, 16
However, mitral valve coaptation improved
in ischemic MR when the strut chordae weresevered.18
Furthermore, the marginal chordae—
and not the strut chordae—are reportedly
vital for mitral valve coaptation.12 These
Vol. 13, No.3, 2015 • Intern J Appl Res Vet Med.

studies suggest that although the CT thatare attached to the base of the AL might beslightly elongated, they were not the maincause of MR.
As observed in humans,20, 21 the pathological investigation in dogs with MR
revealed that the pathological change wasmore severe in the posterior half of the AL
than in the anterior half.19 The posterior halfof the AL might be more affected than theanterior half because of its broader area,
which subjects it to larger blood pressureloads. In addition, the posterior half of the
AL needs more artificial chords during MVR
because of its large valve cusp and pressure
load.
There are several limitations to the present study. First, the breed of dogs used forthe morphological investigation only included beagles. Second, the cross-sectional areasof the CT should be investigated because thecross-sectional surface of canine CT might
not be a true circle, like that in humans.22
In addition, the role of the posterior leaflet
should be considered because the bileaflets
were affected in approximately half of thedogs with MR.7
In conclusion, the CT attached to thetip of the AL might contribute to MR indogs because they are thin. They should bereconstructed during MVR since they secure
the tip of the valve cusp in the left ventricle
for good coaptation of the mitral valve. The
posterior half of the AL might require more
artificial chords because it is broader than
the anterior half of the AL.
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