Assessment of blood flow velocity waveforms of the pulmonary circulation by multigate spectral Doppler scanning and traditional pulsed Doppler ultrasonography.
OBJECTIVE
To assess (1) pulmonary artery and peripheral pulmonary blood flow by using a multigate spectral Doppler system and standard pulsed color Doppler ultrasonography and (2) the reproducibility of peripheral pulmonary artery blood flow velocity waveforms.


METHODS
Thirty-three women were enrolled in the study Fetal pulmonary artery flow velocity waveforms were investigated by multigate spectral Doppler scanning and traditional pulsed Doppler ultrasonography plus color flow mapping. To establish the relationship between these 2 methods, we calculated the correlation coefficient, coefficient of variation, and limits of agreement.


RESULTS
The 2 methods were not significantly correlated. The range of measurement agreement for these 2 methods suggests that there is a significant difference between the main and peripheral pulmonary artery blood flow, and the difference should be taken into account in the interpretation of Doppler flow velocity studies of the pulmonary artery.


CONCLUSIONS
Multigate spectral Doppler scanning with power Doppler imaging may be a better way to assess the average flow impedance in a highly vascularized organ. This technique supplies a large number of Doppler signals in the region of interest and offers a quantified range of Doppler measurements, improving our understanding of fetal hemodynamics.
Liang
Ren-Ing
RI
Department of Obstetrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Prapas
Nikos
N
Detti
Laura
L
Cosmi
Erich
E
Copel
Joshua A
JA
Mari
Giancarlo
G
D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D018617:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Pulsed