The American journal of cardiology
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To determine the relation of Doppler findings to clinical outcome and the agreement between Doppler and cardiac catheterization in the assessment of aortic stenosis (AS) severity, 510 consecutive patients with suspected AS studied in our laboratory were analyzed. Adequate echocardiographic and Doppler examinations were obtained in 498 patients or 98% of the population. Clinical data were available for analysis in 497 patients. ⋯ In 20 patients, aortic valve replacement was performed because of moderate to severe aortic regurgitation, and in 11 elderly (greater than 70 years old) patients with valve areas between 0.80 and 1.0 cm2, valve replacement was performed at the time of coronary artery bypass surgery in an attempt to prevent the need for a repeat surgical procedure in the future. These observations allow the following conclusions. In the symptomatic patient with critical or near critical AS by Doppler, cardiac catheterization does not provide additional information beyond that provided by Doppler.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)