Doppler echocardiography provides valuable information regarding prosthetic heart valve function rather than structure. There are three methods of expressing the severity of mitral valve obstruction: the transvalvular pressure gradient, effective valve area, and pressure half-time. Of these, the transvalvular pressure gradient [~p] can be determined by the measurement of maximum transvalvular blood flow velocity [V] according to the modified Bernoulli`s equation [gp=4V*]. Eleven patients, who underwent mitral valve replacement with Duromedics mechanical prostheses, and 17 normal persons were investigated. There were significantly higher calculated pressure gradients in prosthetic than normal mitral valves [9.*10*2.22mmHg-vs-3.26*0.99mmHg:p<0,01], and there was a inverse relationship between pressure gradient and prosthetic valve size [11.17*0.%mmHg in size 27mm and 29mm -v- 7.38*1.12mmHg in size 31mm and 33mm; r=0.85, p<0.01] The noninvasive Doppler technique should be useful in the diagnosis of prosthetic valve obstruction.