Assessment of Left Ventricular Function in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease by Doppler Tissue Imaging

Objective To assess the clinical value of Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) in evaluating left ventricular diastolic and systolic function in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods Mitral annular early diastole (Ea), late diastole (Aa) and systolic (S) velocities of 60 patients suspected CAD measured by pulsed wave DTI and mitral annular inflow velocities E, A and left ventricular eject fraction (EF) measured by conventional echocardiography were analyzed. Results 22 normal controls (Group A) and 38 patients with CAD confirmed by coronary angiography were examined, including 26 patients with nonmyocardial infarction (Group B) and 12 patients with myocardial infarction (Group C). Compared among the three groups, ①the mean Ea, S, Ea/Aa and E, E/A, EF of the mitral annulus in group C were significantly lower than those of group A (P 0.05), ②There were significant difference of A, Ea, Ea/Aa and E/A between group A and group B (P 0.05). ③ Between group B and C, S and EF showed significant difference (P 0.05). ④There were significant correlations between Ea/Aa and E/A, S and EF in three groups (P 0.005). Conclusion Mitral annular diastolic and systolic velocities parameters measuredby DTI can quantitatively be used in assessment of left ventricular function in CAD. The index of Ea/Aa measured by DTI is better than the ratio of E/A measured by conventional Doppler for evaluating the left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. The mitral annular systolic velocity (S) can estimate left ventricular systolic function but can't replace the index of EF completely.