Pulsed Doppler study of a case of coarctation of the aorta: demonstration of a continuous Doppler frequency shift.

Pulsed Doppler echocardiography was used to assess flow across a severe coarctation of the aorta. The high peak systolic Doppler frequency shift correlated well with the gradient measured at cardiac catheterization. A Doppler frequency shift was present throughout diastole, suggesting pan-diastolic flow across the coarctation. This finding may be a marker of severe coarctation of the aorta.