title: Grading of left-to-right shunting ductus arteriosus in neonates with bedside pulsed Doppler ultrasound.
abstract: A nonimaging pulsed Doppler technique was used to grade the magnitude of flow in left-to-right shunting ductus arteriosus. The results were compared with those obtained with a color Doppler flow mapping technique. The correlation between the grading results by these two methods was 0.91 (p less than 0.01). To determine hemodynamic influence of left-to-right shunting ductal flow, simultaneous measurements of Doppler-derived cardiac output were done. Results showed significantly higher cardiac output in infants with grade III shunting than in infants with grade 0 and grade I shunting. The nonimaging pulsed Doppler ultrasound technique used in the present study proved to be a clinically useful and accurate grading system of left-to-right shunting at the ductal level. The simple grading system with nonimaging Doppler is a valuable adjunct to the color Doppler flow mapping technique. It allows a regular evaluation of ductal flow as well as cardiac output.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirsimäki
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kero
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saraste
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ekblad
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Korvenranta
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Wanne
mesh_terms: D002302:Cardiac Output; D004374:Ductus Arteriosus, Patent / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009991:Oscillometry; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods