Assessment of left ventricular function using mitral annular velocities in patients with congestive heart failure with or without the presence of significant mitral regurgitation.
Myocardial velocities in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) were studied using pulsed wave Doppler tissue imaging. Velocities were recorded at the mitral and tricuspid annulus. Four sites at the mitral annuli were selected corresponding to the septal, lateral, inferior, and anterior walls of the left ventricle from apical 4- and 2-chamber views. A mean value from the above 4 sites was selected to describe the mitral annular velocities. Only one site of the tricuspid annulus was selected, corresponding to the right ventricular free wall. Three different annular velocities were recorded: the peak systolic, and the peak early and late diastolic velocities. A total of 96 patients were compared with 12 age-matched healthy participants. Patients with CHF had significantly decreased mitral and tricuspid systolic velocities compared with healthy participants (4.9 vs 9.3 cm/s, P