The Evaluation of Left Ventricular Diastolic Function by Velocity Vector Imaging

Objective: To explore the feasibility of velocity vector imaging (VVI) in evaluation of left ventricular diastolic function. Methods: Sixty-one patients with diastolic dysfunction were choosen as patient group according to the ratio of mitral valve early (E) and late (A) diastolic flow velocity E/A1 and the ratio of 4 mitral annular sites (anterior, inferior, lateral and septal) early (Ea) and late (Aa) diastolic motion velocity Ea /Aa1 by tissue Doppler imaging. In the same time, 40 healthy adults with 1E/A2 and Ea/Aa 1 were selected as the control group. The values of early (Ve) and late (Va) diastolic motion velocity, the early (SRe) and late (SRa) diastolic strain rate of 4 mitral annular sites (anterior, inferior, lateral and septal) were measured by VVI. The ratios of velocity (Ve/Va) and strain rate (SRe/SRa) were calculated. Results: Compared with the control group, the values of Ve, Ve/Va, SRe, SRe/SRa were significantly decreased (P 0.01),and the values of Va and SRa were significantly increased (P 0.01) in every mitral annular site of the patient group. Conclusion: The motion of mitral annular could be measured quantitily by VVI, which could be used to evaluate the left ventricular diastolic function as a new method.