Background-This study was conducted to elucidate the geometric differences of the mitral apparatus in patients with significant mitral regurgitation caused by ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM-MR) and by idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM-MR) by use of real-time 3D echocardiography (RT3DE). Methods and Results-Twenty-six patients with ICM-MR caused by posterior infarction, 18 patients with DCM-MR, and 8 control subjects were studied. With the 3D software, commissure-commissure plane and 3 perpendicular anteroposterior (AP) planes were generated for imaging the medial, central, and lateral sides of the mitral valve (MV) during mid systole. In 3 AP planes, the angles between the annular plane and each leaflet (anterior, A␣; posterior, P␣) were measured. In ICM-MR, A␣ measured in the medial and central planes was significantly larger than that in the lateral plane (39Ϯ5°, 34Ϯ6°, and 27Ϯ5°, respectively; PϽ0.01), whereas P␣ showed no significant difference in any of the 3 AP planes (61Ϯ7°, 57Ϯ7°, and 56Ϯ7°, PϾ0.05). In DCM-MR, both A␣ (38Ϯ8°, 37Ϯ9°, and 36Ϯ7°, PϾ0.05) and P␣ (59Ϯ6°, 58Ϯ5°, and 57Ϯ6°, PϾ0.05) revealed no significant differences in the 3 planes. Conclusions-The pattern of MV deformation from the medial to the lateral side was asymmetrical in ICM-MR, whereas it was symmetrical in DCM-MR. RT3DE is a helpful tool for differentiating the geometry of the mitral apparatus between these 2 different types of functional mitral regurgitation.