Fig. 2

a. The chordae tendinae were lengthy and thick. The leaflets were slightly thichened. A distinctive reticular fibrous diaphragm with scattered holes was found on mitral valve apparatus as the chordae tendinae intermixed each other. B, C, D. The valve was displayed in saline and was shown in different views. The only functional communication between the left atrium and the left ventricular was through the reticular spaces. Noting that the arrow marked small chodae tendinae in Fig. 2a, c, d did not attach to any other small papillary muscle or the ventricle wall. It was actually attached to the reticular fibrous diaphragm. The attachment point was marked with asterisk mark in Fig. 2a. This small chordate tendinae was inadvertently cut from the fibrous diaphragm during the resection of mitral valve