All issues > Volume 30(5); 1987

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1987;30(5):518-526. Published online May 31, 1987.

Noninvasive Assessment of Pressure Gradient by Quantitative Two-Dimensional Echocardiographic Doppler Studies in Pediatric Cardiovascular Diseases.

Wang Bok Lee¹, Hye Li Chung¹, Dong Jin Lee¹, Sang Bum Lee¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Taegu, Korea

Abstract

In this study we assessed the predictive accuracy of continuous wave Doppler echocardiography for noninvasive measurement of pressure gradients in various pediatric cardiovascular diseases. We studied 32 children, ages 50 days to 12 years, prior to cardiac catheterization or after palliative operation and compared Doppler-estimated gradients and gradients obtained at catheterization or operation. The ultrasound beam was aligned as much as possible to the direction of velocity, using the frequency shift in the audio signal as a guide to obtain velocities as close as possible to those present even if the two-dimensional echocardiographic imagings were unclear. A simplifed Bernoulli equation (gradient=4 x (maximal velocity)2) proposed by Hatle and Angelsen could be used to predict the pressure gradients with a high degree of accuracy (r=0.96, SEE= ±8.0 mmHg). Our study shows that recording of maximal Doppler jet velocities appears to provide a reliable measure of the severity of obstruction or shunt.

Keywords :Pressure gradient; Continuous wave doppler echocardiography.