Flow characteristics in diastolic LV filling vary significantly with different mitral valve prostheses: An in-vitro study

The non-invasive assessment of LV diastolic filling has focused particularly on determining the pattern of filling, which is altered when mitral valve prostheses are implanted. Our goal in this in-vitro study was to utilize the left heart pulsed flow simulator at CalTech to explore the impact of mitral valve design and orientation on LV filling characteristics.