Correlation of valve closing to visualization of single-leg separation in radiographic images of Björk-Shiley convexo-concave heart valves.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: The study goal was to determine whether the visualization of single-leg separation (SLS) in cineangiographic sequences of Björk-Shiley convexo-concave heart valves could be correlated to the position of the occluder disk within the cardiac cycle.

METHODS: Images from ten patient cases with SLS valves were reviewed by three experts, who identified the image frames within a cine sequence that appeared suspicious for SLS. The position of the occluder disk, the frame rate, and the length of the cardiac cycle were noted relative to these image frames.

RESULTS: The probability of detecting a SLS was not significantly correlated to any of these factors.

CONCLUSIONS: Visualization of SLS in cineangiographic images is limited to a few frames within an imaging sequence. It appears that other features within the image play a larger role in a clinician's ability to detect a fracture than do the cardiac dynamics of the system.