Morphology of the mural and commissural atrioventricular junction of the mitral valve

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study investigates mitral annular disjunctions (MAD) in the atrial wall-mitral annulus-ventricular wall junction along the mural mitral leaflet and commissures.MethodsWe examined 224 adult human hearts (21.9% females, 47.9±17.6 years) devoid of cardiovascular diseases (especially mitral valve disease). These hearts were obtained during forensic medical autopsies conducted between January 2018 and June 2021. MAD was defined as a spatial displacement (≥2 mm) of the leaflet hinge line towards the left atrium. We provided a detailed morphometric analysis (disjunction height) and histological examination of MADs.ResultsMADs were observed in 19.6% of all studied hearts. They appeared in 12.1% of mural leaflets. The P1 scallop was the primary site for disjunctions (8.9%), followed by the P2 scallop (5.4%) and P3 scallop (4.5%). MADs were found in 9.8% of all superolateral and 5.8% of all inferoseptal commissures. The average height for leaflet MADs was 3.0±0.6 mm, whereas that for commissural MADs was 2.1±0.5 mm (p<0.0001). The microscopical arrangement of MADs in both the mural leaflet and commissures revealed a disjunction shifted towards left atrial aspect, filled with connective tissue and covered by elongated valve annulus. The size of the MAD remained remarkably uniform and showed no correlation with other anthropometric factors (all p>0.05).ConclusionsIn the cohort of the patients with healthy hearts, MAD is present in about 20% of all studied hearts. The MADs identified tend to be localised, confined to a single scallop. Moreover, MADs in the commissures are notably smaller than those in the mural leaflet.