Clinical applications of a new type of real-time two-dimensional doppler flow imaging system

Characteristic cardiovascular manifestation in homozygous and heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

“…The commercially available Toshiba SSH-65A system was used alternatively for Doppler color flow imaging (15) and two-dimensional echocardiography (26). Parasternal long and short axes views and an apical view were prepared for all heterozygous and control patients in the left recumbent position with optimal gain and depth for imaging.…”

“…We systematically examined the aortic root of not only FH homozygotes but also FH heterozygotes, because it has not been clear whether premature atherosclerosis involving the aortic valve and the ascending aorta are associated with heterozygous FH. To investigate these points, we examined the aortic root area in homozygous patients by cardiac catheterization with angiographies and in heterozygous patients by Doppler color flow imaging (a non-invasive technique with a high degree of specificity and sensitivity) to detect valvular dysfunction (15). We also documented reduced elasticity of the ascending aorta in the heterozygotes by echocardiographic measurements, as a functional disorder.…”

Short History of The Development of Echocardiograpy With Special Reference to That in Japan (2)

“…Among the intracardiac flows, some particular ones, e. g., regurgitant flow, post-stenotic flow, and so forth, are remarkably speedy and easy to estimate their localization, referring to the anatomy and their high-pitched Doppler tone. They seem to be easily discriminated from other flows because of their high velocity [103,104]. Therefore, if the peak velocity of a velocity wave only is required, it may not be necessarily obtained by the pulsed Doppler, but by the CW-Doppler only.…”

“…The above relationship enabled one to estimate intracardiac pressure, i. e., the pressure gradient at stenosis [103,[105][106][107], left atrial pressure, pulmonary artery systolic pressure [108], and so forth, measuring intracardiac flows concerned by the cardiac Doppler. Although the above consideration on the relationship between p and v did not include any new concepts in fluid dynamics, the connection between cardiac ultrasound and hemodynamics was an epoch-making progress from the aspect of ultrasound diagnostics.…”

Assessment of Aortic Regurgitation by Analyzing Intensity of Continuous-Wave Doppler Signals

“…Although a number of the Doppler techniques for assessing aortic regurgitation (AR) has been postulated, any technique has its strength and weakness. Color flow mapping (CFM) is a most popular technique for assessing AR [1]; however, the area of CFM of AR is largely affected by hemodynamics such as blood pressure, cardiac output and heart rate, which hampers the usefulness of this technique [2]. Alternatively, the decay or half-time of the continuous wave Doppler aortic regurgitant flow velocity pattern has been shown to be useful for assessing AR [3][4][5]; however, these estimates are also affected by the factors such as the compliance of the aorta, left ventricular (LV) diastolic property, and LV preload [6][7][8].…”