Valves One method of evaluating prosthetic heart valves is to review their hemodynamic features - fluid flow patterns through a valve, pressure gradients across a valve, and regurgitant characteristics. Included here are normal valve characteristics seen on Doppler and cinefluoroscopic examination, as well as pressure gradients and regurgitation measurements. The presence of an increased ECHO density. On short axis, leaflets form two parallel lines during systole, and they disappear during diastole when the valve is closed.
Gradients are representative of other studies.
On short axis, leaflets form two parallel lines during diastole, and they disappear during systole when the valve is closed. With apical approach, leaflets appear as two parallel lines during diastole, and they disappear during systole. Note that with valves in either the aortic or mitral position, ECHO images of the valve will vary based on the valve orientation chosen by the surgeon at implantation. Cinefluoroscopy provides the best view of leaflet opening and closure, and it is particularly useful in cases of high aortic or mitral gradients or unusual regurgitant flow patterns observed with Doppler ECHO or catheterization. A normally functioning valve shows up as an appearance and then a disappearance of two parallel lines.