title: Peripheral venous pulsatility detected by Doppler method for diagnosis of right heart failure.
abstract: This study shows that peripheral venous flow detected by Doppler ultrasound becomes synchronously pulsatile with heart beats as soon as central venous pressure (CVP) is above 7 mm Hg. CVP was above 7 mm Hg in 13 among 46 patients. Clinical signs of right heart failure were detectable in only 7 of these 13 patients (sensitivity 54%), whereas peripheral venous flow was pulsatile in 12 of them (sensitivity 92%). In 4 patients with a normal CVP, peripheral venous flow was also pulsatile; all of them suffered from valvular heart disease with left ventricle ejection fraction below 60% in 3 of them. The detection of a pulsative peripheral venous blood flow constitutes an early sign of right heart failure, more sensitive than clinical evaluation, and probably even more than CVP.
mesh_terms: D002496:Central Venous Pressure; D005260:Female; D005268:Femoral Vein; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D011674:Pulse; D012212:Rheology; D014463:Ultrasonography