Two-Dimensional Doppler Color Flow Mapping for Detecting Atrial and Ventricular Septal Defects: Studies in Animal Models and in the Clinical Setting

Two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography is an established and useful technique for imaging, localizing, and providing prognostic information related to ventricular septal defect (VSD) and atrial septal defect (ASD)—as well as for providing estimates of volume flow and pulmonary to systemic flow ratios (QP: QS). The Doppler technique, however, has not yet been widely applied systematically for the identification of defects that are too small to image—or for characterization of flow patterns across the ventricular septum or the atrial septum.