Quantification of global left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with coronary artery disease by pulsed Doppler tissue imaging: the value of mitral annulus time intervals

BACKGROUND: Mitral annulus systolic velocity measured by Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) offers an alternate method for assessment of global left ventricular systolic function. However, there has been no study correlating mitral annulus systolic time intervals with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). METHODS: Patients with angina pectoris (AP, 16 cases) and prior myocardial infarction (MI, 34 cases) were studied by pulsed DTI. Sixteen age-matched normal subjects served as controls. The septum, lateral, anterior, and inferior walls of the mitral annulus were selected for DTI sampling. Time to peak of the systolic mitral annular wave (TS) and regional preejection period (PEP) were measured. RESULTS: PEP and TS were significantly longer in the MI group than that in the control and the AP groups. Both PEP and TS at all the annular sites and their two-site averages had significantly negative correlations with LVEF (r =-0.62 to -0.68 and -0.49 to -0.62; P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: PEP and TS as measured by pulsed DTI may be promising indexes for the quantitative assessment of global left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with coronary artery disease.