Real-time sound spectroanalysis for diagnosis of malfunctioning prosthetic valves.

A newly developed real-time sound spectroanalyzer was found to be capable of diagnosing malfunction of prosthetic heart valves. Sound spectroanalysis is believed to be superior to other methods such as phonocardiography and echocardiography. This system, developed in our institute, allows display on a cathode ray oscilloscope of five different modes of the valvular click, including the sound spectrograph and section pattern. Analysis of the section pattern allows measurement of the high-frequency components of the valvular click, which is normalized so as to be applicable to a click of any intensity. This parameter is called normalized maximal frequency (NMF). Sound spectroanalyses were carried out 228 times on 127 patients having a prosthetic heart valve. NMF values of normally functioning valves differed characteristically according to the type of valve, but did not change during the postoperative time course. Three of seven patients who had cerebral embolism showed significantly lower NMF values than normal, as did all four patients whose valve had become thrombosed.