Ascending aortic blood velocity and acceleration using Doppler ultrasound in the assessment of left ventricular function.

We have used a 2.2 MHz continuous-wave Doppler blood velocity meter (Bach-Simpson BVM 202) to measure ascending aortic blood velocity and acceleration, and have obtained from the velocity signal a noninvasive measure of stroke volume and cardiac output by combining the Doppler technique with M-mode echocardiography. In two separate studies we have systematically altered the loading conditions of the heart with lower body pressure; and the inotropic state of the heart with dobutamine (5 micrograms . kg-1 . min-1), and documented the changes in mean velocity (MV), maximum acceleration (MA), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO) and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (EDD) (M-mode echocardiography). Application of lower body pressure to subjects in a 30 degrees head-up tilt position caused a systematic increase in preload, as shown by a 9% increase in EDD, which raised SV by a maximum of 33% (p less than or equal to 0.001) and CO by 32% (p less than or equal to 0.01), thus showing a classical Starling response; whilst there was relatively little increase in MA. Conversely, infusion of dobutamine, an inotropic agent, caused a 29.2% increase in MA (p less than or equal to 0.01) with minimal increase in SV. Thus, the ability to measure ascending aortic blood velocity allows noninvasive monitoring of changes in both inotropic state and Starling function, with considerable ease and rapidity.