Perhaps the most useful application of color flow imaging is in the detection of valvular regurgitation. Many of the patients examined in echocardiography laboratories dealing primarily with adult populations undergo Doppler examination for the presence and relative severity of valvular insufficiency. Color flow techniques avoid time-consuming PW Doppler examination mapping techniques and thus reduce patient examinations and interpretation times.
Normal flows through the heart are easily detected, but to a beginner may simply appear as confusing flashes of color. Normal flows rarely alias and serve as a background for recognition of the aliasing that occurs with abnormal flows, such as valvular regurgitation.
2004