Abstract
An improved perception of the magnitude and dynamics of intracardiac flow disturbances
has been made possible by the advent of 3-dimensional (3-D) color Doppler, a new diagnostic
procedure developed at our institution. This study describes the new insights derived
from 3-D reconstruction of color Doppler flow patterns in patients with different
heart valve diseases. The color Doppler flow data from 153 multiplanar transesophageal
or transthoracic echocardiographic examinations has been obtained from 133 patients
with heart valve disease; 73 patients had mitral regurgitation, 15 had mitral stenosis,
18 had aortic regurgitation, 26 had aortic stenosis, and 21 patients had tricuspid
regurgitation. Four patients had pulmonary regurgitation associated with mitral valve
disease. The 3-D reconstructions of color Doppler flow signals were accomplished by
means of the “Heidelberg Raytracing model,” developed at our institution. The 3-D
color Doppler reconstructions were obtained in all patients. The 3-D images revealed
for the first time the complex spatial distribution of the blood flow abnormalities
in the heart chambers caused by different heart valve diseases. New patterns of intracardiac
blood flow disturbances were observed and classified. Three-dimensional color Doppler
provides a unique noninvasive method that can be easily applied for studying intracardiac
blood flow disturbances in clinical practice.
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Article Info
Footnotes
☆This work was supported by the German National Foundation for Scientific Research (Sonderforschungsbereich 414, Teilprojekt H1), Heidelberg, Germany. Manuscript received April 3, 2000; revised manuscript received and accepted June 22, 2000.
Identification
Copyright
© 2000 Excerpta Medica Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
