Exercise hemodynamics in small (< or = 21 mm) aortic valve prostheses assessed by Doppler echocardiography.

Exercise Doppler echocardiography was used to assess hemodynamics in 25 patients with a < or = 21 mm aortic valve prosthesis (14 with a Medtronic-Hall 21 mm valve, three with a Medtronic-Hall 20 mm valve, three with a Sorin 21 mm valve, one with a Duromedics 21 mm valve, and four with a Carpentier-Edwards 21 mm valve). A symptom-limited upright bicycle exercise test was performed, and Doppler gradients were recorded during exercise. Gradients increased with exercise from 30 +/- 8/16 +/- 4 mm Hg (peak/mean) at rest to 46 +/- 12/24 +/- 7 mm Hg during exercise; both p < 0.001. Mean exercise gradient exceeded 30 mm Hg in five patients, and the highest mean gradient recorded was 37 mm Hg. Within the group of mechanical valves, gradients at exercise were similar for different types of valves. A linear relationship was found between gradients at rest and during exercise (peak r = 0.75, mean r = 0.77; both p < 0.001). Additional findings were midventricular velocities exceeding 1.5 m/sec in late systole in 10 patients (40%) and intraventricular flow (> or = 0.2 m/sec) toward the apex during isovolumic relaxation in 11 patients (44%). The patients with these velocity patterns had significantly smaller left ventricular cavities (end-diastolic diameter 39.8 +/- 4.8 vs 46.5 +/- 4.2 mm, p < 0.01; end-systolic diameter 24.2 +/- 3.0 vs 28.5 +/- 4.5 mm, p = 0.013).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)