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Left ventricular systolic longitudinal function: comparison among simple M-mode, pulsed, and M-mode color tissue Doppler of mitral annulus in healthy individuals.

Mondillo S, Galderisi M, Ballo P, Marino PN,

Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Le Scotte Hospital, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.

BACKGROUND: M-mode determination of left ventricular (LV) atrioventricular plane displacement (AVPD) allows a simple assessment of LV longitudinal systolic function. Color tissue Doppler (TD) M-mode-derived AVPD and pulsed TD-derived systolic annular velocity are more sophisticated tools. OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare these 3 techniques for the analysis of LV longitudinal systolic function. METHODS: Standard M-mode AVPD, color TD M-mode AVPD, and systolic annular velocity were measured at 4 annular levels in 56 healthy individuals. The time to onset and the electromechanical interval were also determined using each technique. RESULTS: Standard M-mode AVPD (r = 0.56, P < .0001) and color TD M-mode AVPD (r = .65, P < .0001) showed good correlation with systolic annular velocity. All 3 techniques revealed an inhomogeneous systolic shifting among different annular portions. Systolic intervals showed small discrepancies but high concordance between M-mode techniques and pulsed TD. CONCLUSIONS: Standard M-mode imaging of the mitral annulus may be considered a reliable method for the assessment of LV longitudinal function.

Published 4 September 2006 in J Am Soc Echocardiogr, 19(9): 1085-91.
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