Transaortic Valve Gradient Determined by a Dual Lumen Pressure Monitoring Catheter

Abstract

Simultaneous recordings of left ventricular (LV) and central aortic pressures (AO) provide the greatest accuracy for determination of the transaortic pressure difference. We describe a very simple technique for simultaneous measurement of LV and AO pressures using a new, dual lumen pressure monitoring catheter. Using this device, we compared simultaneous LV and AO as well as LV and femoral artery (FA) pressures before and after aortic valvuloplasty in seven consecutive patients. The difference between the mean aortic gradient or aortic valve area determined by the LV‐AO and LV‐FA measurement techniques was not statistically significant. Our initial experience with the double lumen pigtail catheter indicates that this device facilitates direct measurement of the LV‐AO pressure gradient and eliminates the need for two arterial punctures, a transseplal approach or alignment of LV and FA pressure curves.