Validation of "left ventricular early inflow-outflow index": A novel echocardiographic method for quantification of mitral regurgitation in an Indian population with special focus on rheumatic etiology.

Background: Quantification of mitral regurgitation (MR) has always required an "integrated approach" as there is no single gold-standard method. We investigated a new Doppler-derived parameter "left ventricular early inflow-outflow index (LVEIO)" for the quantification of MR and its likelihood to predict severe MR in correlation with already established parameters in an Indian population including a large subset of patients with rheumatic etiology.

Methods: A prospective study was performed at a major tertiary care center in western India over a 5-month period.