title: Effects of balloon valvuloplasty on coronary blood flow in neonates with critical pulmonary valve stenosis assessed with transthoracic Doppler echocardiography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Treating pulmonary valve stenosis with balloon valvuloplasty (BV) is a good model to study the effect of right ventricular (RV) pressures on coronary flow.
  
  
  METHODS
  Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography was used to register coronary flow in 10 age-matched healthy controls and 7 neonates before and 1 day after BV.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Left ventricular fractional shortening and cardiac output increased significantly after BV. Right coronary artery diameter decreased from 1.2 +/- 0.2 to 1.1 +/- 0.1 mm (P < .02). Posterior descending coronary artery flow parameters decreased significantly, with blood flow decreasing from 8.4 to 5.7 +/- 1.9 mL/s (P < .003). RV end-diastolic pressure and RV systolic pressure explained almost totally the variation in coronary flow (r(2) = 0.87).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RV end-diastolic pressure and RV systolic pressure determined coronary flow in neonates with critical pulmonary valve stenosis. Cardiac output and left ventricular fractional shortening increased after pulmonary valve BV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden. elhadi.aburawi@med.lu.se
authors.forename: Elhadi H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Aburawi
authors.forename: Ansgar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Erkki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pesonen
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002404:Catheterization / Q000379:methods*; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011666:Pulmonary Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*