title: Doppler echocardiographic indices in aortic coarctation: a comparison of profiles before and after stenting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diagnosis of aortic coarctation is important as it is a difficult condition to evaluate, especially in adults. A Doppler echocardiographic index could provide a simple tool to evaluate coarctation. This study was performed to compare Doppler echocardiographic profiles before and after stenting and to assess the diagnostic value of a complete list of echocardiographic indices for detecting aortic coarctation.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective study was conducted on 23 patients with a diagnosis of aortic coarctation based on angiography. Echocardiographic assessment was done twice for all patients before and after stenting. Each time, two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic imaging modalities were performed and complete lists of indices were recorded for each case. After comparing the values of indices before and after stenting, diagnostic values of each index were calculated in order to diagnose significant coarctation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-three patients, including 16 males and seven females with a mean age of 26.14 ± 10.17 years, were enrolled in this study. Except for the mean velocity and mean pressure gradient of the abdominal aorta, the values of the other indices of the abdominal/descending aorta showed enough change after stenting to indicate significant diagnostic accuracy for detecting aortic coarctation. The velocity-time integral and the pressure half-time were among the indices with the highest accuracy rates for this purpose (all p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Post-stenting echocardiographic profiles could provide a reliable reference value of the normal aortic haemodynamics as a unique identification of each patient and it is presumed that these indices could be used as reliable indicators of response to treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Shokoufeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hajsadeghi
authors.forename: Seyed-Mohammad
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Fereshtehnejad
authors.forename: Mahshid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ojaghi
authors.forename: Hossein Ali
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Bassiri
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Keramati
authors.forename: Mitra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chitsazan
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gholami
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D001017:Aortic Coarctation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015607:Stents; D055815:Young Adult