Echocardiographic nomograms for upper abdominal aorta Doppler systolic wave values and systo-diastolic diameters variations in children

BACKGROUND: Abdominal aorta pulsatility and blood flow patterns are important diagnostic indicators in congenital heart disease. Reference values for these indexes are lacking. METHODS: We prospectively studied abdominal aorta pulsed-wave Doppler systolic peak velocity, deceleration time, and wave duration, and two-dimensional vessel diameters in systole and diastole in healthy Caucasian children. Heteroscedasticity was accounted for by White or Breusch-Pagan test. Age, weight, height, heart rate (HR), and body surface area (BSA) were used as independent variables in different analyses to predict the mean values of each measurement. Structured Z-scores were then computed. RESULTS: In all, 853 subjects (age 0 days to 17 years; 45% females; BSA 0.12-2.12m2) were studied. The predicted values and Z-score boundaries are presented. Data are also presented as mean±2 SDs for a given BSA. CONCLUSIONS: We report paediatric echocardiographic nomograms for multiple proximal abdominal aorta parameters including pulsed-wave Doppler systolic velocities, deceleration time, wave duration, and two-dimensional vessel diameter variations. Significant variations in these functional indexes with age were found that should be taken into account in clinical practice. At lower ages, steeper and shorter pulsed-wave Doppler peak velocity and limited pulsatility should be expected as physiologic findings.