Diagnostic value of transesophageal echocardiography in patients with coronary artery disease and mitral insufficiency

Any diagnosis of mitral regurgitation must always include the etiology. The clinical history is only rarely informative, as are chest x-ray examinations. The ECG is of value to diagnose coronary artery disease with or without previous myocardial infarction — but further differentiation is not possible. During heart catheterization mitral insufficiency can be diagnosed and quantified according to Seller’s classification [1]. A differentiation of etiology is only rarely possible. Rheumatic heart disease and mitral valve prolapse can be differentiated.