Normal intracardiac and great vessel doppler flow velocities in infants and children

Normal two-dimensional pulsed Doppler echocardiography velocity profiles for sites within the heart and great vessels in a group of 102 normal infants and children are presented. Qualitatively, waveforms mimic expected hemodynamic events at the various sites. All waveforms had a rapid initial deflection followed by spectral broadening after attainment of peak velocity. Quantitative angle-corrected peak velocities were generally lower on the right side than on the left side of the heart. Differences in tricuspid (mean 61.8 cm/s) versus mitral (mean 81.1 cm/s) outflow and pulmonary (mean 76.1 cm/s) versus aortic (mean 88.5 cm/s) outflow were significant (p < 0.01). The only significant age-related differences were in the pulmonary artery (mean for newborns 67.7 cm/s versus 79.6 cm/s for older children, p < 0.01). Aortic data obtained from interrogation sites in which flow was close to 0 or 180° were similar, whereas aortic peak velocity data obtained from apical long-axis or subcostal views were greater. These differences were probably induced from inaccuracies in azimuthal (elevational) angles that cannot be measured. These normal Doppler data should be useful for comparisons with data obtained for children with various forms of congenital heart disease that affect flow dynamics.