Noninvasive estimation of the pulmonary artery pressures in patent ductus arteriosus with continuous-wave Doppler echocardiography]

To develop a new method for noninvasive measuring of the pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) in patient ductus arteriosus (PDA), left and right heart catheterization (Cath) and continuous-wave Doppler echocardiography (CWD) were performed simultaneously in 30 cases with PDA. The results showed that there was high correlation of the systolic peak pressure gradient (delta pp), the end-diastolic pressure gradient (delta Pd) and the mean pressure gradient (delta Pm), across PDA measured with the two techniques (r = 0.99, 0.96 and 0.98, respectively). The CWD-derived pulmonary artery systolic (PASP), diastolic (PADP) and mean (PAMP) pressure, which were estimated by subtracting delta Pp, delta Pd and delta Pm from the brachial artery systolic, diastolic and mean pressure, correlated well with the corresponding PAP measured with Cath (r = 0.92, 0.89 and 0.94, respectively). It is concluded that CWD offers a reliable technique for estimating shunt pressure gradients and PAP in patients with PDA.