SLOWING OF MITRAL-TO-APICAL FLOW PROPAGATION IN THE ELDERLY - A COLORM-MODE DOPPLER STUDY

Background Retardation of early diastolic mitral-to-apical flow propag ation measured by colour M-mode Doppler is related to slowing of left ventricular relaxation. Methods We studied the age-dependence of the t ime difference between the occurrence of peak early diastolic blood fl ow velocity at mitral tip level and in the apical region of 28 healthy individuals. The time difference was subjected to blinded analysis. R esults The time difference increased with increasing age of the indivi dual (r = 0.5, P = 0.01), the most marked increase occurring after age 75 years, in which group it was 78 ms, compared with 30 ms in the ind ividuals aged less than 75 years (P < 0.01), The time difference corre lated with diastolic transmitral peak early filling velocity (E-wave; r = -0.5, P = 0.01). In agreement with the findings of other studies, the ratio between E-wave and peak atrial-induced velocity decreased wi th increasing age (r = -0.7, P = 0.001). Conclusion The increased time difference with increased age indicates a reduced speed of mitral-to- apical flow propagation. This may be the result of physiological slowi ng of left ventricular relaxation in older people, in particular among individuals older than 75 years.