Usefulness of color-flow Doppler in diagnosing and in differentiating supracristal ventricular septal defect from right ventricular outflow tract obstruction.

Color-flow Doppler is used for special localization of cardiac flows. The transeptal jet in supracristal ventricular septal defect (VSD) is directed toward the pulmonary valve and is often difficult to distinguish from the right ventricular (RV) outflow tract flow. Pulsed- and continuous-wave Doppler can misread the VSD jet as a stenotic lesion in the RV outflow tract. This study describes the color-flow Doppler characteristics of supracristal VSD and determines if color-flow Doppler can differentiate supracristal VSD jets from RV outflow tract flow. The study group comprised 28 patients ranging in age from 3 days to 23 years (mean 6.4), with catheter-diagnosed supracristal VSD in 14, isolated pulmonary valve stenosis in 10 and RV infundibular obstruction in 4. The echocardiographic Doppler and color-flow Doppler data of all patients were reviewed without knowledge of catheterization diagnosis. In all patients with supracristal VSD, color-flow Doppler revealed an abnormal transeptal jet directed toward the pulmonary valve that occurred 5 to 10 ms before RV outflow tract flow was identified. VSD and RV outflow tract jet could be differentiated by pulsed- and continuous-wave Doppler alone in 10 of 14 patients (71%). In 4 patients, differentiation was possible only with color-flow Doppler and electrocardiographic gating. Associated aortic regurgitation, or a fistula, or both, were detected in 6 patients. Pulsed- and continuous-wave Doppler with or without color-flow Doppler correctly identified the level of obstruction in all patients with RV outflow tract lesions (14 of 14). Supracristal VSD jet occurs in early systole and is directed toward the pulmonary valve.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)