[Color Doppler echocardiography--possibilities and limits of a new procedure]

Color-flow-mapping (CFM) has added a new dimension to the echocardiographic diagnosis of heart disease. Typical characteristics of blood flow, i.e., flow direction, relative velocities, and degree of "turbulence" in the cardiovascular system are displayed within the two-dimensional echocardiographic image. This gives hitherto unknown insights into the physiology of blood flow velocity profiles. Pathological flow patterns in heart disease are easily recognizable and their display within the CFM image allows a straightforward diagnosis of the underlying heart disease. This feature is especially valuable in the diagnosis of heart disease with shunt and in valvular regurgitations in children, as well as in adults. CFM is also useful for optimal angulation in the assessment of gradients using the simplified Bernouilli equation. It is characterized by a remarkably high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. However, quantitation of heart disease causing volume load is still limited by the lack of standardization in the process of color encoding of the Doppler data. Digital flow mapping (DFM) offers an opportunity for the standardized sampling of Doppler data offering development of an established modality for color encoding. Moreover, DFM offers the opportunity for calculation of angle-corrected velocities. Here a new non-invasive way for a reliable calculation of cardiac output may present itself.