Doppler vocal fremitus

Abstract

| 473 FISER Et al.This Doppler signal reflected increased turbulence across the obstructed bronchus, which was detected due to conduction of ultrasound through the pulmonary consolidation. In normal lung tissue, ultrasound would be attenuated by air. This phenomenon represents a Doppler equivalent of "vocal fremitus" elicited by physical examination of a patient with an underlying lung mass or pneumonia. A similar phenomenon has been used in breast ultrasound clinically to characterize mammary tumors as malignant vs benign. 1,2 However, Doppler fremitus findings from an intrathoracic pulmonary consolidation have not been described.These images illustrate the range ambiguity of continuous wave Doppler and the inadvertent detection of extracardiac abnormalities during an echocardiography. Careful attention to the timing of Doppler abnormalities along with an understanding of Doppler physics is necessary to avoid misdiagnosis.