ABSTRACT
Background: To assess the gender-based differences in the echocardiographic outcomes of patients with mitral stenosis presenting at a tertiary care hospital and the clinical implications of such differences. Methods: A total of 90 echocardiographs of both men and women [aged=15 years] having mitral valve area [MVA] less than 4 cm were assessed. In addition to MVA, pressure half time and left atrial diameter [LAD] of the patients was also recorded. Other co-existing valvular lesions were also assessed in addition to mitral stenosis. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS-17. Results: A higher prevalence of mitral stenosis [MS] was found in women than men [76.66% vs 24.44%]. Men were having more severe mitral stenosis as compared to women [MVA=1.19 cm 2 vs 1.32 c 2]. This also resulted in significantly higher left atrial dilatation in males as compared to women [45.09 vs 41.75, p=0.0422]. Most of the patients had other coexisting valvular lesions and isolated MS was rare. However, men had a predominance of aortic stenosis along with mitral stenosis [27% vs 4%, p=0.0059] whereas women had a higher prevalence of mitral regurgitation along with mitral stenosis than the men [65% vs 36%, p=0.0258]. Conclusion: There were certain significant differences in echocardiographic outcomes of patients based upon their gender. A gender-specific management approach towards the patients with mitral stenosis is essential to have better outcome. Keywords: Mitral stenosis, Rheumatic heart disease, Echocardiography, Gender