Diagnosis of tricuspid insufficiency by Doppler flowmetry in the inferior vena cava. A comparison with right ventricular angiography.

Eighty-five patients subjected to routine heart catheterization were examined with duplex scanning of the inferior vena cava. Adequate Doppler recordings and a right ventricular angiography were obtained in 79 of them. Tricuspid insufficiency was found to be present in 34 patients at angiography and in 24 at duplex examination. No false positive Doppler diagnoses of tricuspid insufficiency occurred. The possibility of false positive angiographic diagnoses is discussed. A high correlation was found between percentage reversed flow in the inferior vena cava during ventricular systole and degree of angiographic tricuspid insufficiency. It is concluded that duplex scanning of the inferior vena cava seems to be a good alternative to angiography in the diagnosis and quantification of tricuspid insufficiency.