A NEW DOPPLER IMAGING MEASUREMENT IN AORTIC-STENOSIS - THE CONTOUR LENGTH OF THE JET ORIGIN FLOW AREA, RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BOTH, WITH USUAL DOPPLER DATA AND LEFT-VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY

Plainmetry of stenotic aortic jet origin flow areas was performed usin g transthoracic Doppler imaging, with measurement of the contour lengt h of flow areas and calculation of a contour/area (C/A) Doppler ratio on a group of 75 patients with aortic stenosis ranging from 0.27 to 2. 44 cm(2). The purpose was to study correlations of these data with the usual Doppler data and with left ventricular hypertrophy. The ''r'' c oefficient between plainmetered flow areas and those calculated by the continuity equation method was 0.89. Mean values (SD) of data were: a reas: (plainmetry) 1.00+/-0.59 cm(2), (continuity equation ) 0.91+/-0. 42 cm(2), contours: 5.6+/-1.6 cm, C/A: 0.66+/-0.25, maximal and mean p ressure gradients: 68+/-34 and 37+/-21 mmHg, left ventricular hypertro phy: 138+/-30 g/m(2) BSA (vs. 100+/-18 in normals). All values except age, gender and BSA, differed significantly (p<0.001) between areas be low or over 0.85 cm(2). Other correlations between parameters were sig nificant (p<0.01 to 0.001), but with lower ''r'' coefficients due to w idely scattered individual values. Contours increased much less rapidl y than areas did, and were correlated with left ventricular hypertroph y only when coupled in the C/A ratio, with a higher ''r'' coefficient (0.62) tha areas (0.52). Study of both areas and contours helps to app roach the geometry of the orifice. This suggests that the individual g eometry of the stenosis mighty weigh on the left ventricular mass grow th, as an associated factor for a given decrease in stenotic area.