Mechanism of mitral regurgitation in inferior wall acute myocardial infarction

In 5 of 18 patients with a first acute inferior wall myocardial infarction and mitral regurgitation, a late systolic murmer was present that correlated with a late systolic peak of regurgitation by the proximal flow convergence method (p <0.001, chi-square 20). Results demonstrate that even in patients with late systolic murmurs, ischemic mitral regurgitation is not caused by mitral valve prolapse, but can be explained by the pattern of regurgitant orifice area variation in an abnormally tethered mitral valve.