title: [Yield of transthoracic echocardiography with high frequency transducer in the study of the anterior descending coronary artery].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was performed to evaluate the feasibility and utility of a transthoracic high frequency transducer to detect and measure the left anterior descending coronary artery flow in patients with lesions in this artery or anterior myocardial infarction.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 11 subjects with lesions greater than 75% and another 10 with anterior myocardial infarction. We compared the results with a control group of 18 subjects. An ATL HDI 5000 ultrasound unit with a 5-8 MHz transducer was used to identify the left anterior descending in the anterior interventricular sulcus from an apical four chamber window. We considered that left anterior descending was detected when a diastolic predominant flow pattern was obtained with pulse Doppler.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Left anterior descending was detected in 37/39 of cases (94.4%). Patients with coronary lesions showed a decrease in the limit of significance in the diastolic/systolic peak velocity ratios: 2.5 (SD 0.7) vs 1.8 (SD 0.3) with a p = 0.024. Patients with anterior myocardial infarction obtained lower diastolic/systolic peak velocity ratios than controls: 2.5 (SD 0.7) vs 1.4 (SD 0.3) with a p = 0.001.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Left anterior descending coronary artery flow can be assessed by transthoracic high frequency echocardiography in greater than 90% of the cases. Patients with coronary lesions and those with anterior myocardial infarction have a decreased diastolic/systolic peak velocity ratio.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Cardiología. Hospital Ramón y Cajal. Madrid. jmoya@hrc.insalud.es
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Moya Mur
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guzmán
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Catalán
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Megías
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barrios
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Pablo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harriague
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García Lledó
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Asín Cardiel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*