title: Diagnosis and quantitative evaluation of secundum-type atrial septal defect by transesophageal Doppler echocardiography.
abstract: Transesophageal echocardiography (horizontal sector scan) was performed in 11 patients with secundum atrial septal defect (ASD). In all 11 patients, transesophageal echocardiography presented the definite visualization of the defect and a clear laminar shunt flow that showed its 2 peaks in late systole and late diastole. We estimated the size of ASD and a shunt volume across the defect by using transesophageal echocardiography. The defect size determined by transesophageal echocardiography was correlated with the surgical measurement (horizontal width, r = 0.92, p less than 0.001; vertical length, r = 0.85, p less than 0.01). A significant high correlation was shown between the shunt volume measured by transesophageal echocardiography and that by Fick's method (r = 0.87, p less than 0.01). There was no significant correlation between the pulmonary to systemic flow volume (ratio) and the mean shunt flow velocity across ASD, although a high linear correlation was observed between the pulmonary to systemic flow ratio and the defect size in horizontal direction (r = 0.82, p less than 0.01). Transesophageal echocardiography used for diagnosis and quantitative evaluation of ASD could be performed easily and satisfactorily within 10 minutes. Thus, transesophageal echocardiography is a useful method in evaluation of the defect size and the shunt flow volume of ASD. The mean shunt flow velocity was not a reliable index for estimating the shunt flow volume. The defect size might be a valuable determinant of left-to-right shunt volume in ASD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Ube, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuzaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tohma
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Michishige
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Anno
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kusukawa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001810:Blood Volume; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged