Doppler echocardiographic assessment of valvular regurgitation severity by measurement of the vena contracta: an in vitro validation study.
BACKGROUND
Noninvasive quantitation of valvular regurgitation remains a difficult problem. Measurements of the vena contracta (VC) by color Doppler echocardiography have been proposed but limited data are available on the actual accuracy of this method.


METHODS
To evaluate how closely the color Doppler VC reflects the true fluid dynamic VC and the anatomic regurgitant orifice and whether this measurement is affected by flow changes, various models of valvular regurgitation were studied in an in vitro flow circuit. The VC diameter was measured with color Doppler using two different ultrasound systems (Agilent Sonos 5500; Agilent Technologies Inc, Palo Alto, Calif and Vingmed CFM 800; GE Healthcare, Chalfront St Giles, UK). Optical planimetry of the anatomic regurgitant orifice was performed, the true VC diameter was determined by laser particle flow visualization.


RESULTS
Because of flow contraction, the true VC diameter was consistently smaller than the anatomic regurgitant orifice diameter. Anatomic orifice and true VC only marginally changed with flow rate. The diameter of the color Doppler VC, however, not only overestimated the anatomic orifice diameter by 45% to 60% and the true VC diameter by 130% to 160%, but was also highly affected by the flow rate and the ultrasound system. Despite these limitations a color Doppler VC diameter of 0.77 cm or more (Agilent) and 0.89 cm or more (Vingmed) detected severe regurgitation with a sensitivity of 93% and 84% and a specificity of 96% and 79%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Color Doppler estimates of the VC markedly overestimate regurgitant orifice and true VC. In contrast to the true VC, Doppler measurements are significantly affected by flow rate and by the ultrasound system used. Nevertheless, they allow semiquantitative assessment of valvular regurgitation separating severe from nonsevere regurgitation with acceptable accuracy.
Mascherbauer
Julia
J
Department of Cardiology, Vienna General Hospital, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Rosenhek
Raphael
R
Bittner
Barbara
B
Binder
Josefa
J
Simon
Paul
P
Maurer
Gerald
G
Schima
Heinrich
H
Baumgartner
Helmut
H
D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index