Understand the fundamentals of mitral valve anatomy on transesophageal echocardiography with a focus on mitral valve segements.
mitral annulus fibrosus is formed by the lateral extensions of fibrous tissue from the left and right fibrous trigones
The amount of fibrous tissue decreases as it wraps around the posterior leaflet until only myocardium is present
The lack of fibrous tissue makes the posterior mitral annulus more prone to annular dilation.
anterior leaflet is adjacent to the fibrous trigone and the aortic valve
approximately one-third of the mitral annular circumference
the posterior leaflet has twice as much annular attachment
two-thirds of the mitral annular circumference
the scallop closest to the left atrial appendage and the anterolateral commissure named the P1 segment
the two leaflets have similar surface areas
leaflets join at the anterolateral and the posteromedial commissures
anterior leaflet is named in segments corresponding to the posterior scallops: A1/P1 is considered the lateral scallop, A2/P2 the middle scallop, A3/P3 the medial scallop.