Intraventricular dispersion of early diastolic filling as a marker of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to elucidate the hypothesis that peak early diastolic flow velocity decreases progressively from the base to the apex in patients with left ventricular [LV] diastolic dysfunction. In normal subjects, early diastolic flow velocity at mitral tip was maintained at positions of 1 to 3 cm away from the tip into LV cavity. In contrast, regional peak early diastolic flow velocity progressively decreased toward the apex in patients with hypertensive heart disease, aortic stenosis, ischemic heart disease and dilated cardiomyopathy groups. These findings were observed even in patients with a normalized mitral flow velocity pattern or those with AF. Thus, the assessment of intraventricular decrease in peak early diastolic flow velocity may be useful in detecting LV diastolic dysfunction particularly in patients with AF or normalized mitral flow velocity pattern