[The echocardiographic study in congenital valvular aortic stenosis (author's transl)]

Echocardiographic studies were performed in 15 patients, aged 8 months to 20 years, with congenital valvular aortic stenosis confirmed by hemodynamic findings. Seven patients showed an anomalous pattern of the valvular echo in diastole (multiple valve echoes), seven exhibited an eccentric closure, and only in two patients the area was significantly reduced in systole. Therefore aortic valve diastolic pattern was more important than systolic appearance in the echocardiografic diagnosis of congenital valvular aortic stenosis. In all cases a correlation was found between the left ventricular pressure obtained with this non invasive method and the pressure measured in the left ventricle at the cardiac catheterization (p less than 0.001).