QUANTITATIVE-EVALUATION OF LEFT-VENTRICULAR SYSTOLIC FUNCTION BY DOPPLER-ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES

Doppler echocardiography provides the ability to measure blood flow ve locities noinvasively. These blood flow velocities can be used to obta in powerful hemodynamic information about systolic contractility of th e left ventricle, which in the past could only be determined from inva sive cardiac catheterization or cumbersome pulse recordings. Volumetri c flow rates can be measured using the hydraulic principle of flow thr ough a rigid tube, providing a measurement of stroke volume and cardia c output. The rate of the left ventricular pressure rise derived from a mitral regurgitation velocity curve provides a nonejection phase ind ex of systolic contractility. Acceleration time can be obtained from a n ascending aortic velocity and is an indicator of maximum myocardial force. Systolic time intervals can now be quickly and accurately obtai ned from the standard Doppler tracings. These quantitative measurement s of the status of the left ventricle are accurate, reproducible, and should be incorporated into the routine noninvasive assessment of pati ents with cardiac disease.