Diastolic Prolapse of the Pulmonic Valve with Unusual Regurgitant Jet

Abstract

p u l m o n i c valve regurgitation, two-dimensional echocardiography, diastolic prolapse, pultnonic valve cusp Standard textbooks of cardiology and echocardiography enumerate many causes of pulmonic valve regurgitation, but diastolic pro-Address for correspondence and reprint requests: Ivan A. DCruz, M.D., VA Medical Center, Cardiology Section, 1030 Jefferson Ave., Memphis, TN 38104. Fax: 901-577-7430.lapse of the valve is not mentioned among them. We recently encountered two patients in whom two-dimensional (2-D) echocardiography showed diastolic prolapse of a pulmonic valve cusp, and color flow Doppler revealed an unusual tangential medially directed jet.Patient 1, a 42-year-old man, had a short grade 2 systolic murmur and early diastolic murmur at the left sternal border. No systolic Figure 1. patient 1 showing diastolic prolapse of one of the cusps into the right ventricle.