Clinical applications of two-dimensional/Doppler echocardiography.

The number of clinical applications for which Doppler echocardiography can, or could, be used is substantial. We must acknowledge that in our institution, the use of pulsed Doppler echocardiography is relatively routine, and we are enthusiastic about its contributions to diagnostic echocardiography. Having used Doppler echocardiography in our laboratory for a number of years, we are impressed that the study of intracardiac flow disturbances helps us understand clinical cardiac disorders more fully, and we believe the technique will become more widespread over the next few years. At present, we believe pulsed Doppler to be a useful and often necessary part of the echocardiographic evaluation of patients with valvular and congenital heart disease. Moreover, the prospects for using Doppler echocardiography to quantitate volume flow and ventricular function appear intriguing and promising. Other potential applications which we discussed, though only speculative at present, may well be realized as future technologic improvements occur. Thus, the future of pulsed Doppler echocardiography appears exciting.