[Cardiac Doppler ultrasonography in the diagnosis and surveillance of chronic aortic insufficiency].

Chronic aortic insufficiency is, since a few years, a topic of renewed interest because of the development of non-invasive monitoring methods: sonocardiography, cardiac Doppler. The problem raised is that of deciding the most opportune time for surgery in asymptomatic chronic AI, the course of which may quietly evolve towards irreversible myocardial lesions. The severity of AI may be determined by numerous sonocardiographic and Doppler criteria. In sonocardiography, three types of parameters have especially been studied: ventricular expansion (telediastolic, telesystolic diameter), the systolic function (percentage of diameter decrease), volume/mass ratio (R/h). To be valid, these measurements are a precious guide for patient's monitoring and therapeutic approach. The more recent Doppler criteria must be validated on large series and evaluated according to the context or a pathological association; they all have limitations and cannot be interpreted separately.