Background: Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography can provide information about valve morphology, right ventricular size and function, and hemodynamics in patients with pulmonary stenosis. Therefore, two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic examinations were performed on patients with pulmonary stenosis returning for the Second Natural History Study of Congenital Heart Defects.
Methods and results: Three hundred twenty-five patients with pulmonary stenosis underwent two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic examinations. Of these, 115 were in the medically treated group, and 210 had undergone a previous operation. Patients in the valvotomy group had a higher incidence of right ventricular dysfunction and a larger right ventricular diastolic dimension. The valvotomy group had a lower pulmonary valve mean gradient and a lower right ventricular systolic pressure than the medically treated group. For all patients, there was no significant correlation of the echocardiographic variables with the presence or absence of symptoms, reflecting the low incidence of patients with cardiac decompensation.
Conclusions: These observations provide an objective measurement for assessing the status of the pulmonary valve and right ventricular response in patients with pulmonary stenosis. Limitations of echocardiography in this study are discussed.