Accuracy of the Phonocardiogram in Assessing Severity of Aortic and Pulmonic Stenosis

Abstract

A critical evaluation was made of the reliability of three easily obtainable phonocardiographic criteria in the estimation of ventricular peak pressure in congenital pulmonic and aortic valvular stenosis. In 50 patients with pulmonic stenosis the Q-ejection click interval showed a significant inverse relationship to peak pressure (r=–0.77, ppp < 0.001) and with the log of pulmonary valve area (r=–0.72, p p p< 0.001) of estimating the rate of pressure development (dp/dt) in the hypertrophied right ventricle.