title: Usefulness of transthoracic color Doppler echocardiography for the identification of left anterior descending coronary artery stenosis.
abstract: We briefly describe our experience with transthoracic Doppler echocardiography for the direct evaluation of mid-distal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) stenosis. Three patients with previous myocardial infarction, scheduled for coronary flow reserve evaluation, underwent Doppler analysis of the mid-distal LAD. In all 3 cases, the mid-distal LAD stenosis was accurately quantified by the Doppler spectrum as confirmed by quantitative coronary angiography. Our study demonstrated the feasibility of transthoracic Doppler echocardiography in the discrimination of significant and non-significant mid-distal LAD stenosis. Limitations of such a technique could be related to the variable coronary anatomy and to the severity of the atherosclerotic process.
authors.affiliation: Villa dei Fiori Hospital, Acerra (NA), Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scognamiglio
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Michele
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Damiano
authors.forename: Ciro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Simone
authors.forename: Manlio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cocozza
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bartolomucci
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ascione
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guarini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004452:Echocardiography; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests