Doppler echocardiographic indices in aortic coarctation: a comparison of profiles before and after stenting

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). CONCLUSION 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.