Abstract

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is widely recognized as a non-invasive gold standard for quantification of ventricular volumes. In addition, it is an emerging diagnostic modality for clinical evaluation of mitral regurgitation (MR) and aortic regurgitation (AR). CMR facilitates accurate quantitation of regurgitation volumes and regurgitant fraction, but referring physicians are often more comfortable with qualitative measures, and few data exist for correlation of qualitative CMR regurgitation severity with that obtained by more conventional qualitative Doppler echocardiography. Because patients with AR and MR may commonly be assessed by both echocardiography and CMR modalities, consistency between qualitative gradient of regurgitation severity is important for follow-up. Therefore, we sought to define the CMR regurgitant fractions that best correlate with qualitative mild, moderate, and severe regurgitation by color Doppler echocardiography.