title: Doppler echocardiographic observations of diastolic trans-septal flow through small ventricular septal defects.
abstract: Turbulent left-to-right trans-septal diastolic blood flow with a peak velocity greater than 0.5 m.s-1 was detected by pulsed Doppler echocardiography in 10 out of 204 (4.9%) children with isolated small ventricular septal defects. For children older than 10 years, it was observed in over a quarter of cases (27%). Peak diastolic velocities ranged from 0.6-1.9 m.s-1 (mean 1.2 m.s-1) and in all patients the duration of diastolic flow exceeded that of the systolic trans-septal jet. Three different patterns of diastolic flow were observed and in eight cases pre-systolic acceleration was present. Turbulent diastolic flow across small ventricular septal defects is a common finding in older children and should not be confused with other causes of disturbed diastolic flow within the right ventricle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, British Columbia Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Webber
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Sandor
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology*; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006345:Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006346:Heart Septum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*