Mitral valve stenosis most cases, the diagnosis of mitral stenosis is most easily made by echocardiography, which shows left atrial enlargement, thick and calcified mitral valve with narrow and "fish-mouth"-shaped orifice and signs of right ventricular failure in advanced disease. It can also show decreased opening of the mitral valve leaflets, and increased blood flow velocity during diastole. The trans-mitral gradient as measured by Doppler echocardiography is the gold standard in the evaluation of the severity of mitral stenosis. Another method of measuring the severity of mitral stenosis is the simultaneous left and right heart chamber catheterization. The right heart catheterization (commonly known
Mitral valve annuloplasty the native annulus and some of its natural dynamics. The goal of semi-rigid rings is to maintain coaptation and valve integrity during systole, while allowing for good hemodynamics during diastole. Rigid rings are designed to provide rigid support in large dilation and under high-pressure. Annuloplasty devices usually come in different sizes. The surgeon can estimate the dimensions of the patient’s mitral valve and decide on an appropriate ring size. Depending on the disease etiology, different approaches are taken. Surgeons can decide to "undersize" the device, "truesize" the device, or "oversize" it. Annuloplasty devices are classified by the U.S. Food and