title: Diastolic ventricular septal motion in atrial septal defect: analysis of M-mode echocardiograms in 31 patients.
abstract: Previous echocardiographic studies suggest that diastolic motion of the ventricular septum reflects relative filling of the right and left ventricles. We studied 31 patients with atrial septal defect by M-mode echocardiography. Early diastolic posterior ventricular septal motion (DPSM) occurred in all patients. Measurement of DPSM correlated with pulmonary to systemic flow ratios (Qp:Qs) (r = 0.64, p less than 0.001). All 15 patients with DPSM greater than 5 mm had a Qp:Qs greater than 2.5:1, whereas only 8 of 16 patients with DPSM less than 5 mm had a shunt this large (p less than 0.003). DPSM greater than 5 mm in patients with atrial septal defect is a specific but not sensitive echocardiographic sign of a large left-to-right shunt. Our findings substantiate the hypothesis that diastolic motion of the ventricular septum reflects relative filling of the ventricles.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009200:Myocardial Contraction