Application of pulsed Doppler echocardiography in mitral stenosis.——Ⅰ.Assessment of mitral stenosis using flow velocity parameters

Thirty patients with confirmed mitral stenosis were examined by pulsed Doppler echocardiography before right or/and left heart catheterization.Seven mitral flow velocity parameters were evaluated for establishing the diagnosis and grading the severity of mitral stenosis.Marked anomalies of the parameters as well as flow velocity patterns were noted in all cases.On the basis of a comparison between finding in mitral stenosis and those in normal subjects,the Doppler diagnostic criterion of mitral stenosis was proposed.The parameters,however,were not ideal in evaluating the severity of mitral stenosis.When a system of score was used,all patients with a valve area of less than 1.0 cm~2 had the score of 3 to 5 suggesting reduced valve area,whereas the patients with an area greater than 1.0cm~2 had the score of 0 to 2 except in one case.We conclude that mitral flow velocity parameters are very useful in the assessment of mitral stenosis.