Moderate functional mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with aortic valve stenosis (AS) is often left unaddressed at the time of aortic valve replacement (AVR) because it is expected to decrease after AVR. However, some patients have persistent moderate MR after AVR. We sought to determine the preoperative echocardiographic predictor for persistent functional MR after AVR in patients with AS. Pre- and postoperative echocardiograms were reviewed in 110 patients with severe AS and functional MR who underwent AVR without mitral valve (MV) surgery. Fifty-eight patients received concomitant coronary artery bypass graft surgery. In patients with MV tenting, defined as apical displacement of mitral leaflets in the apical 4-chamber view, MV tenting area and tenting height were measured at midsystole. Eighty patients had MV tenting (mean MV tenting area 1.4 +/- 0.5 cm2, mean MV tenting height 0.8 +/- 0.2 cm) and 30 did not have it before AVR. MR severity decreased in 51 of 80 patients (64%) with MV tenting after AVR and in 25 of 30 patients (83%) without MV tenting (p <0.05). In patients with MV tenting, multivariate analysis revealed that presence of long-term atrial fibrillation and MV tenting area were independent predictors of postoperative MR severity (all p values <0.05). The sensitivity and specificity in predicting persistent moderate MR after AVR were 72% and 82% for MV tenting area >1.4 cm2. In conclusion, preoperative MV tenting predicts persistent functional MR after AVR in patients with severe AS.