Mitral Valve Disease

The mitral valve is the most easily recognized moving structure in the heart. Because of its rapid to and fro motion, the mitral valve serves as “home base” for almost all echocardiographic examinations. When the transducer is directed posteriorly from the chest wall toward the heart, the most rapidly moving target will almost invariably be the anterior mitral leaflet. Most echocardiographers, therefore, learn cardiac anatomy and motion based upon relationships of the mitral valve to other structures.