Usefulness of mitral annular systolic velocity in the detection of left ventricular systolic dysfunction: comparison with three dimensional echocardiographic data.
BACKGROUND
Although the modified Simpson's method is widely used for the assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), it has limitations including relatively high inter- and intra-observer variability and time consuming nature. We want to evaluate whether assessing mitral annular systolic velocity (S' velocity) by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) can be used to evaluate LV systolic function with comparing LVEF by three dimensional echocardiography (3DE).


METHODS
We examined 3DE and TDI studies of patients between January and August 2008. 3DE LVEF was measured by offline commercial computer software EchoPac PC(R) (GE, Andover, MA, USA). S' velocity was obtained from the medial side with apical four chamber view by pulsed-wave Doppler with TDI.


RESULTS
We included 125 patients (78 males (62.4%), mean age: 57.5+/-13.0 years). The mean S' velocity was 7.7+/-1.9 cm/s and the mean LVEF was 57.2+/-10.4%. The S' velocity measured by TDI showed a linear correlation with LVEF measured by 3DE (r=0.688, p<0.001). Study patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of LV systolic dysfunction: Group I (normal LVEF), n=102 and Group II (LVEF <50%), n=23. For prediction of significant LV systolic dysfunction by the receiver operating characteristic curve according to S' velocity, the optimal cutoff value was 6.8 cm/s. At this cutoff value, the sensitivity and specificity were 94.1% and 87%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, S' velocity measured by TDI showed a significant correlation with three dimensional LVEF and can be used to detect patients with LV systolic dysfunction.
Park
Yun Seon
YS
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea.
Park
Jae-Hyeong
JH
Ahn
Kye Taek
KT
Jang
Won Il
WI
Park
Hyung Seo
HS
Kim
Jun Hyung
JH
Lee
Jae-Hwan
JH
Choi
Si Wan
SW
Jeong
Jin-Ok
JO
Seong
In-Whan
IW