Model and influence of mitral valve opening during the left ventricular filling

The flow inside a model left ventricle during filling (diastole) is simulated by the numerical solution of the equations of motion under the axisymmetric approximation. The left ventricle is taken with a truncated ellipsoid geometry, and a simple conceptual model is introduced to simulate the presence of the moving mitral valve. A relevant role during the left ventricle diastolic flow, as already discussed by other authors, is played by the travelling vortex wake that is formed from the transmitral jet during the early filling acceleration phase. The presence of a moving valve is found to produce a non-simultaneous spatial development of the entering bulk flow and a slightly more complex vortex wake structure; the results are discussed in comparison with fixed valve ones. They are analysed also in terms of M-mode representation suggesting a physical interpretation of the pattern detected in the clinical measurements that extends the one given previously on the basis of fixed valve models. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.