Peak Systolic Velocity (PSV): The highest velocity recorded during systole on a spectral Doppler waveform, used to quantify arterial stenosis severity.
Peak systolic velocity (PSV) is the maximum blood flow velocity measured during cardiac systole on spectral Doppler waveform analysis. It is the primary metric used to grade carotid artery stenosis (ICA PSV >125 cm/s = ≥50% stenosis; >230 cm/s = ≥70% stenosis per SRU consensus criteria), renal artery stenosis, and peripheral arterial disease.