Factitious Mitral Insufficiency

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Abstract
RETROGRADE catheterization of the left side of the heart is commonly used for the postoperative hemodynamic and angiographic evaluation of patients who have undergone mitral-valve replacement.1 2 3 4 Mitral prosthetic valves, by projecting into the left ventricular outflow tract, present a wide space between the struts into which a catheter, manipulated from the aorta to the left ventricle, may pass. This occurrence, which may not be recognized fluoroscopically, as demonstrated in Figures 1 and 2, which show normal entry of a retrograde catheter into the left ventricle, may prevent the proper seating of the ball or disk of the prosthetic valve and cause acute . . .