Physiological Flow Velocity Patterns in the Cardiovascular System

Abstract

This chapter will describe the distribution of blood flow velocities under physiological conditions and in secondary functional disturbances within the heart and the great vessels. The spatial as well as the temporal distribution for every compartment will yield a topography of flow behavior in the cardiovascular system. The directions in normal as well as in pathological states, however, do not always obey the rules for the standardization of echocardiographic views as proposed by the American Society of Echocardiography in 1980 [20]. Thus, in many cases it is necessary to change the orientation of the sector plane from the usual image orientations in order to cover the area of flow extension as far as possible. This may sometimes render the anatomical interpretation of the resulting images difficult at first glance.