**2.4.7 The 'pseudo-cleft' of mitral valve**

The 'pseudo-cleft' of mitral valve an obvious indentation of the border of the mitral valve, which penetrates deeply into the body of the mitral leaflet. It is pretty difficult to diagnose being visible only during the diastole and has to be integrated with the analyses of the colour Doppler in systole (Figure 9 A,B,C). It is never present as an isolated lesion; it is usually found in old mitral valve P2 prolapse. A split which resembles a pseudo-cleft develops between the scallops P2 and P3 (or P1).

Fig. 9. (A,B,C). Diastolic transthoracic 2D and 3 D echocardiography short axis view (9A,B), showing the crack between P2 and P3 in a patient with P2 prolapse. The figure 9C shows a 3 D transesophageal representation (surgical view) of a pseudo-cleft located between the P3 and P2 scallops (red arrow).
