Abstract
Purpose Continuous wave Doppler ultrasound is routinely used to detect
cardiac valve stenoses. Vector flow imaging (VFI) is an angle-independent
real-time ultrasound method that can quantify flow complexity. We aimed to
evaluate if quantification of flow complexity could reliably assess valvular
stenosis in pediatric patients.
Materials and Methods Nine pediatric patients with echocardiographically
confirmed valvular stenosis were included in the study. VFI and Doppler
measurements were compared with transvalvular peak-to-peak pressure differences
derived from invasive endovascular catheterization.
Results Vector concentration correlated with the catheter measurements
before intervention after exclusion of one outlier (r=−0.83,
p=0.01), whereas the Doppler method did not (r=0.49,
p=0.22). The change in vector concentration after intervention
correlated strongly with the change in the measured catheter pressure difference
(r=−0.86, p=0.003), while Doppler showed a tendency for
a moderate correlation (r=0.63, p=0.07).
Conclusion Transthoracic flow complexity quantification calculated from
VFI data is feasible and may be useful for assessing valvular stenosis severity
in pediatric patients.
High-frame rate vector flow imaging of the carotid bifurcation
