Circumference and surface area of AV-valves were determined in 200 hearts formalin-fixed
in their postmortem contracted State. It was found that, with increasing ventricular
weight, the increase of the surface area of the valves exceeds that of the valve circumference.
According to our findings, it is unlikely that relative valvular incompetence in ecoentric
cardiac hypertrophy is solely due to a disproportion between the valve surface area
and circumference. Degenerative vascular changes of papillary muscle arteries and
fibrosis of the papillary muscles may play one etiological role in the relative insufficiency
of these valves.
AV-valves - Relative insufficiency - Circumference - Surface area - Papillary muscle
changes
