Clinical Utility of Mitral Annulus Velocity to Estimate Left Ventricular Filling Pressure

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Early mitral inflow velocity(E) corrected for the influence of LV relaxation could give information about LV filling pressure. Early diastolic mitral annulus velocity(E') is a relatively load independent parameter reflecting LV relaxation. Therefore, correction for the influence of LV relaxation could be done with the ratio of early mitral inflow velocity to early mitral annulus velocity(E/E'). The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical utility of E/E' ratio in a large number of patients. METHODS: Simultaneous left ventricular pressure measurements and Doppler examinations were performed in 200 consecutive patients at the cardiac catheterization laboratory. RESULTS: E/E' ratio correlated well with pre-A pressure(r=0.74, p or =50%; r=0.74, p12mmHg) pre-A pressure with the sensitivity of 81% and specificity of 80%. LV pre-A pressure could be estimated with the simplified equation of [pre-A pressure=E/E'+4]. CONCLUSIONS: E/E' ratio is useful in the estimation of LV filling pressure and in contrast to the conventional parameters, it is not dependent on the left ventricular systolic function.