Study of left ventricular diastolic function with echocardiography and coronary angiography

Objective To examine the left ventricular diastolic function of patients with coronary artery diseases by the intraventricular dispersion in peak early diastolic flow velocity and coronary angiography. Methods Mitral Doppler signals were recorded by the continuous wave Doppler technique in 262 patients, both coronary angiography and left ventricle pressure were measured. Patients were divided into normal, nearly normal and abnormal groups based on coronary angiography. Doppler echocardiography studies were obtained from mitral tip toward the apex (E0, E1, E2, and E3): that is, mitral flow velocity (E0) and the intraventricular regional early diastolic flow velocity at 1 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm, from mitral tip toward the apex. Results Left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP),the left ventricular negative Δp/Δt before atria contraction and left ventricular pressure derived from LV pressure dropped fastest in abnormal group were more than those in the normal and the nearly normal. Intraventricular dispersion of early diastolic filling were significantly lower in CAD subjects than those in healthy ones (P0.05). The early regional peak diastolic flow velocity were progressively decreased from the tip toward the apex in patients with CAD. In early regional peak diastolic flow velocity, E3 and E3/E0 ratio were progressively and significantly lower than E0 and E1/E0 ratio (P0.05). Conclusion The intraventricular dispersion of peak early diastolic flow velocity E3 and E3/E0 ratio may be useful in detecting LV early diastolic dysfunction in CAD. LV early diastolic dysfunction in abnormal groups were more severe than normal and nearly normal groups.