Noninvasive Measurement of Left Coronary Blood Flow Reserve by Transthoracic Doppler Echocardiography: Comparison with Doppler Guidewire Ultrasonography.

The development of new ultrasound instrumentation has made epicardial coronary artery blood flow imaging easier with the use of transthoracic coronary Doppler echocardiography (TCDE). This study was performed to investigate the accuracy of coronary blood flow reserve (CFR) measurement by TCDE. In 15 patients with ischemic heart disease in the absence of valvular disease or atrial fibrillation, coronary flow at rest and flow with hyperemia induced by intravenous dipyridamole infusion were recorded by TCDE and Doppler guidewire ultrasonography.