Diagnosis of pulmonic regurgitation by contrast echocardiography

Richard S. Meltzer*, Zvi Vered, Theodore Hegesh, Patricia Benjamin, Cees A. Visser, Abraham A. Shem-Tov, Henry N. Neufeld

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

In order to determine whether pulmonic regurgitation (PR) can be reliably diagnosed using contrast echocardiography, we studied 24 subjects using echocardiography during intravenous injections of 5% dextrose solution. Twelve were without PR, and twelve had PR (10 after intracardiac repair of tetralogy of Fallot, one after a Brock procedure for pulmonic stenosis, and one after insertion of a right ventricle-pulmonary artery conduit for pseudo truncus arteriosus). Two blinded independent observers correctly diagnosed PR in all patients when it was present, and correctly excluded it in 11 of 12 of the patients without PR. They disagreed in one patient who had an unusual contrast pattern during diastole. Four postoperative patients had PR by contrast echocardiography despite the absence of a cardiac murmur at the time of their study. We conclude that contrast echocardiography is a safe, simple, sensitive, and specific method for diagnosing PR. Some methodologic suggestions and limitations of the method are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)102-107
Number of pages6
JournalAmerican Heart Journal
Volume107
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1984
Externally publishedYes

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