Real‐Time 3‐Dimensional Echocardiographic Assessment of Effective Regurgitant Orifice Area in Dogs With Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease

BACKGROUND: Effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA), calculated from the vena contracta width (VCW) as the narrowest portion of the proximal regurgitant jet, might be used to estimate severity of mitral regurgitation. However, this simplified assumption only holds when the EROA is circular, which might not be true in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). HYPOTHESIS: Effective regurgitant orifice area in dogs with MMVD is noncircular, and using color Doppler real‐time 3‐dimensional (RT3D) echocardiography, measured EROA in the en face view will be significantly different from calculated EROA. ANIMALS: Hundred and fifty‐eight privately owned dogs with naturally occurring MMVD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective observational study comparing en face view of EROA with calculated EROA using VCW in 4‐chamber (4Ch) and 2‐chamber (2Ch) view only or combined 4Ch and 2Ch views using RT3D echocardiography. RESULTS: The calculated EROA using the 2Ch view showed a systematic underestimation of 17% compared with the measured en face EROA corrected for body surface area. The calculated EROA using 4Ch and 4Ch + 2Ch views showed less agreement with the en face EROA, and the difference between methods increased with increasing EROA. The difference between calculated and measured EROA showed a systematic underestimation of the calculated EROA by 36% (4Ch) and 33% (4Ch + 2Ch), respectively, compared to measured en face EROA. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: When replacing measured EROA with calculated EROA using VCW measurements, the 2Ch view is preferred in dogs with MMVD.