Chronic Aortic Regurgitation (AR), or aortic insufficiency, is the leaking of the aortic valve that causes the blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole. Mitral regurgitation (MR), the malfunctioning of the heart’s mitral valve, could coexist with AR; however, its prevalence is mostly unknown. The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence and survival impact of coexistent MR in AR patients.
This study included a total of 1,239 patients (mean age 61 years, 80% men) with moderate-severe chronic AR. The patients were tested for the MR, and the primary outcomes of the study were the prevalence and outcomes of MR in AR patients.
Out of 1,239 patients, 1,072 (86%) had pure AR and 167 (14%) had coexistent AR and MR (9% functional mitral regurgitation [FMR], 84% nonischemic, and 5% organic mitral regurgitation [OMR]). The differences between pure AR vs. AR+OMR vs. AR+FRM showed differences in age, sex, symptoms, arterial fibrillation, left ventricular ejection fraction, and right ventricular systolic pressure. At a median follow-up of 5,2 years, AR+OMR and AR+FMR were associated with a 1.25 and 2.34 times higher risk of mortality, respectively.
The research concluded that in patients with chronic, coexistent MR had a prevalence of 14% and was associated with a higher risk of mortality.
Ref: https://www.onlinejacc.org/content/76/3/233
