NEW DOPPLER-ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC APPLICATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF DIASTOLICFUNCTION

Doppler echocardiography is one of the most useful clinical tools for the assessment of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function. Doppler in dices of LV filling and pulmonary venous (PV) flow are used not only f or diagnostic purposes but also for establishing prognosis and evaluat ing the effect of therapeutic interventions. The utility of these indi ces is limited, however, by the confounding effects of different physi ologic variables such as LV relaxation, compliance and filling pressur e. Since alterations in these variables result in changes in Doppler i ndices of opposite direction, it is often difficult to determine the s tatus of a given variable when a specific Doppler filling pattern is o bserved. Recently, color M-mode and tissue Doppler have provided usefu l insights in the study of diastolic function. These new Doppler appli cations have been shown to provide an accurate estimate of LV relaxati on and appear to be relatively insensitive to the effects of preload c ompensation. This review will focus on the complementary role of color M mode and tissue Doppler echocardiography and traditional Doppler in dices of LV filling and PV flow in the assessment of diastolic functio n. (C) 1998 by the American College of Cardiology.