Echocardiography Techniques II Exam 1 Practice

Systolic flow disturbances stem from issues that affect flow during ventricular contraction: either something obstructs the outflow tract or blood leaks backward through the atrioventricular valves. Aortic stenosis and pulmonary stenosis are obstructions to ejection during systole, making it harder for the ventricle to push blood out. Regurgitant lesions—mitral regurgitation and tricuspid regurgitation—cause backflow into the atria during systole when the valves fail to close properly. Mitral stenosis and tricuspid stenosis, by contrast, impede flow during diastole, not systole. Therefore, the complete set of causes of systolic flow disturbances includes both stenotic lesions (aortic and pulmonary) and regurgitant lesions (mitral and tricuspid), which is why the option listing all four is correct.