Three-dimensional echocardiographic and surgical findings in mitral mechanical valve dysfunction.

Periodic echocardiographic evaluation of valve function is recommended in all patients with prosthetic valves. Usually trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) is satisfactory to assess prosthetic function. Nevertheless when the TTE is suboptimal or in case of strong clinical doubt of prosthetic valve dysfunction, trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE) remains the gold standard of imaging.