Patent ID: 7848793

Claim:
In an implantable system, a method for monitoring a patient's heart for mitral valve regurgitation (MR), comprising: (a) obtaining an electrogram (EGM) signal and a corresponding pressure signal, the EGM signal representative of electrical functioning of the patient's heart during a plurality of cardiac cycles, the corresponding pressure signal representative of pressure within the left atrium the patient's heart during the cardiac cycles; (b) for each of a plurality of cardiac cycles represented in the EGM and pressure signals, (b.1) determining a maximum peak within a first window of the pressure signal, wherein a start of the first window is defined relative to an event detected in the EGM signal, and wherein a length of the first window is defined to include at least one of an a-wave and a c-wave, but not a v-wave, of the cardiac cycle represented in the pressure signal; and (b.2) determining a maximum peak within a second window of the pressure signal, wherein a start of the second window is defined relative to an event detected in the EGM signal or relative to the first window, and wherein a length of the second window is defined to include the v-wave of the cardiac cycle represented in the pressure signal; (c) comparing the maximum peak detected within one or more said first window to the maximum peak detected within one or more said second window; and (d) monitoring for MR based on results of the comparing.