Evaluation of left ventricular function in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy using wave intensity

Objective To explore the clinical value of wave intensity(WI)in evaluating the left ventricular function in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM).Methods Twenty-seven DCM patients and fifty healthy volunteers were involved in the study as the case and control group seperately.Diameter of left atrium and left ventricle,left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)were measured by conventional echocardiography.Mean value of the diastolic myocardial velocity(Ve,Va)of the six region of intrest(ROI)at the mitral annulus level were detected by tissue velocity imaging.WI indices including W_1,W_2,R-W_1,R-W_(1correct) ,W_1-W_2 and W_1-W_(2correct) were measured.Differences of the parameters between the groups were analyzed.Results LVEF,Ve and Va in case group were significantly lower than those of the control group(P 0.05).The correlation coefficient of W_1 and LVEF was 0.72(P<0.01).Conclusions WI was a useful technique to evaluate the left ventricular function in patients with DCM. Key words: Echocardiography; Cardiomyopathy,dilated; Ventricular function,left; Wave intensity