[Doppler echocardiographic evaluation of pressure in the pulmonary artery in children with congenital heart defects].

In children with congenital heart disease serial noninvasive assessment of the pulmonary vascular bed is desirable in order to determine the appropriate timing of cardiac catheterization and corrective surgery. To assess the value of pulmonary Doppler echocardiography for the estimation of pulmonary arterial pressure we correlated the rightsided systolic time intervals (preejection period, acceleration period, ejection period) derived from pulmonary artery Doppler traces with catheterization data (systolic, mean and diastolic pulmonary arterial pressure, total and vascular pulmonary resistances). 62 children aged from 1 month to 15 years suffering from congenital heart disease (n = 52), from rheumatic heart disease (n = 4), from cardiomyopathy (n = 5) or from primary pulmonary hypertension (n = 1) were investigated. The major finding was a highly significant correlation between the acceleration period and the systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (r = 0.79; p less than or equal to 0.0001). However the acceleration period could not be used for prediction of pulmonary arterial pressure in children with poor myocardial contractility.