Abstract: The assessment of pulmonary arterial pressure by Doppler echocardiography and catheterization were compared in 26 cases of congenital heart disease. Doppler quantitative evaluation included measurement of the following time intervals: preejection period (PEP), time to peak velocity (TPV), right ventricular ejection time (RVET). We found that certain Doppler spectrum peculiarities were present in patients with pulmonary hypertension and these were: prolonged PEP, shorted TPV and enlarged frequency shift distance with relatively narrowed width of spectrum. PEP and TPV both correlated well with systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (r=0.91,-0.92 respectively). Our results showed that majority of patients whose systolic PA＞30mmHg PEP was more than 0.09sec and TPV less than 0.13sec.
As an invasive procedure, Doppler echocardiography is proving to be useful in prediction of pulmonary arterial hypertension and some peculiarities in flow spectrum warrant further appreciation.