Aortic stenosis in adults. Non-invasive estimation of pressure differences by continuous wave Doppler echocardiography.

The peak and mean aortic transvalvar pressure differences measured invasively and non-invasively by continuous wave Doppler echocardiography were compared in 87 consecutive patients with aortic stenosis. The mean values were calculated from the maximal velocities of the aortic jet recorded with a spectral display of the Doppler frequency shifts and by applying a modified Bernoulli equation. Technically satisfactory velocity curves for estimating the mean pressure differences could not be obtained in three patients and invasive measurements were not obtained in two. In all patients the peak transvalvar pressure difference was calculated since the aortic jet was identified non-invasively. The peak and mean pressure differences measured invasively and non-invasively correlated well--with only minor underestimation of the pressure differences measured with the Doppler technique--regardless of age, sex, and the presence or absence of aortic valvar regurgitation, or other valvar lesions. With a systematic search for the highest velocities in the aortic jet and with on line spectral analysis of the Doppler frequencies the peak and the mean aortic pressure differences can be determined non-invasively with a high degree of precision in almost all patients.