Quantitation of aortic regurgitation by colour coded cross-sectional Doppler echocardiography

Abstract
In 60 patients with aortic regurgitation, angiography and cross-sectional Doppler echocardiography have been compared in order to examine the reliability of the noninvasive method in quantitating aortic regurgitation. In a parasternal short-axis view just below the aortic valve, the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the jet divided by the cross-sectional area of the left ventricular outflow tract was determined. This measurement was possible in 50 patients (83%). Grossman's classification was used as the criterion for assessing the severity of aortic regurgition by angiography. Values for the ratio of grade I ranged from 0.03 to 0.18, 110.06 to 0.29, III0.30 to 0.55, and IV 0.40 to 0.65. Assuming four Doppler grades ( 2 analysis gave 96.6, P<0.00001, the contingency coefficient was 0.81. We conclude that, using this measurement, cross-sectional Doppler is a reliable method for the quantitative evaluation of aortic regurgitation.