All issues > Volume 31(3); 1988

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1988;31(3):315-321. Published online March 31, 1988.

Estimation of Pressure Difference Between Right and Left Ventricle in Ventricular Septal Defect with Doppler Echocardiography.

Myung Chul Cho¹, Byung Kiu Park¹, Woo Sung Park¹, Chung Il Noh¹, Jung Yun Choi¹, Yong Soo Yoon¹, Chang Yee Hong¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Received: November 20, 1987;

Abstract

We compared the interventricular pressure gradient with Doppler echocardiography and that measured during cardiac catheterization in 48 children who were admitted for diagnostic cardiac catheterization and angiography to the ward of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children’s Hospital during the period of 7 months from June to December 1986. Among 48 cases of simple ventricular septal defect, 21 cases were supracristal (type I), and 27 cases were membranous defects (type II). We measured the maximal velocity by Doppler echocardiography and the pressure gradient was predicted from the maximal velocity by use of the simplified Bernoulli equation (pressure gradient= 4 x maximal velocity2). In this study the Doppler-predicted pressure gradient correlated well with the catheterization- measured pressure gradient (peak to peak pressure gradient between two ventricels) in both types of ventricular septal defect (Type I: r=0.81, Type II: r=0.91). Thus, the Doppler echocardiaography is a reliable means of estimating instantaneous interventricular pressure gradient in children with isolated ventricular septal defect.

Keywords :Ventricular septal defetct, Maximal velocity, Pressure gradient, Doppler echocardiography