Doppler-echocardiographic Assessment of Cardiac Output

Noninvasive Doppler-echocardiographic estimates of cardiac output correlate well with invasive measures of cardiac output, making Doppler echocardiography useful in clinical practice. The ability of Doppler echocardiography to measure flow at multiple sites within the heart makes calculation of intracardiac shunt flow ratios and regurgitant flow volume possible. Measurement of flows at stenotic and nonstenotic sites provides the potential for determining the area of a stenotic valve without cardiac catheterization. Although considerable work must be done before all of these methods can be applied routinely, Doppler echocardiography is clearly emerging as a powerful quantitative tool that greatly enhances the strength of noninvasive evaluation in cardiac diagnosis and management.