title: Evaluation of tissue Doppler imaging for regional quantification of radial left ventricular wall motion in healthy horses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the feasibility and repeatability of tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) for quantification of radial left ventricular (LV) velocity and deformation from different imaging planes and to correlate cardiac event timing data obtained by TDI to M-mode and pulsed-wave Doppler-derived time intervals in horses.
  
  
  METHODS
  10 healthy adult horses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Repeated echocardiography was performed by 2 observers from right and left parasternal short-axis views at papillary muscle and chordal levels. The TDI measurements of systolic and diastolic velocity, strain rate, strain peak values, and timing were performed in 8 LV wall segments (LV free wall and interventricular septum from right parasternal views; left and right region of LV wall from left parasternal views). The inter- and intraobserver within- and between-day variability and measurement variability were assessed. The correlation between TDI-based measurements and M-mode and pulsed-wave Doppler-based time measurements was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TDI measurements of velocity, strain rate, and strain were feasible in each horse, although deformation could often not be measured in the LV free wall. Systolic and diastolic time intervals could be determined with low to moderate variability, whereas peak amplitude variability ranged from low to high. The TDI-based time measurements were significantly correlated to M-mode and pulsed-wave Doppler measurements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TDI measurements of radial LV velocity and deformation were feasible with low to moderate variability in 8 LV segments. These measurements can be used for evaluating LV function in further clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. annelies.decloedt@ugent.be
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Decloedt
authors.forename: Tinne
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Verheyen
authors.forename: Stanislas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sys
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Clercq
authors.forename: Gunther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Loon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods* / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009038:Motion; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left