Fig. 2.

Systolic ventricular pressure distribution on mitral leaflets in (a) dipped coaptation and (b) edge-to-edge coaptation. The black arrows show the ventricular pressure that both mitral leaflets must counter to prevent regurgitation, which is greater in (b). The pink arrows in (a) represent the equal and opposite forces against the anterior and posterior mitral leaflet edges that nullify the ventricular pressure at those points. Note the larger left ventricular outflow tract in (a) with dipped coaptation, decreasing resistance to systolic flow and reducing the risk of systolic anterior motion. The blue arrows represent chordal tension, differing in thickness to represent the exertional force on the chords (colored orange). Note the chords are depicted ‘wavily’ in (a) to emphasize reduced chordal tension.