Pulmonary artery pressure evaluated by pulsed Doppler echocardiography in children with a left-to-right intracardiac shunt.

In a study of 25 children with left-to-right intracardiac shunt we found a good correlation (r greater than 0.92; p less than 0.001) between right ventricular pre-ejection period/acceleration time, derived from pulsed Doppler echocardiography, and pulmonary artery systolic, diastolic, and mean pressures, measured at cardiac catheterization. This may enhance the noninvasive estimation of pulmonary artery pressure.