Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) may present intraventricular gradients as expressions of dynamic subaortic obstruction. A non-invasive technology to measure the gradient is highly desirable for repetitive assessment of the presence and magnitude of obstruction. To determine the utility of continuous wave Doppler (CW) in assessing the left ventricular outflow tract gradient in patients with HCM, we performed simultaneous measurements of CW and pressure gradients. The results of this study support the use of CW Doppler as a reliable technique to measure the intraventricular gradients in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, in patients with severe obstruction a particularly narrow outflow tract and a high velocity jet of mitral regurgitation may result in misinterpretation of the magnitude of subaortic obstruction.
