NONINVASIVE ESTIMATION OF HUMAN LEFT-VENTRICULAR END-DIASTOLIC PRESSURE

ySato et al. (Electronic Letters 32, 949-950, 1996) reported that one can obtain a non-invasive estimate of left ventricular (LV) pressure a t around end-diastole in an isolated canine preparation. In this study we examined whether this method can be applied to humans. Using the m ethod proposed by Kanai et al. (IEEE. Trans. UFFC, 43, 791-810,1996), we detected small amplitude LV vibration from an ultrasonic pulse Dopp ler signal reflected from the interventricular septum in five patients (44-63 y.o., male;4, female;l). We measured the oscillation frequency of the LV wall through the wavelet transform of small amplitude LV vi bration, and calculated LV pressure at around end-diastole from the va lues of oscillation frequency, internal radius and wall thickness usin g Mirsky's equation. The estimated LV pressures at around end-diastole were similar to end-diastolic pressure measured directly by cardiac c atheterization. These results show the possibility that this method al lows for the non-invasive estimate of LV pressure at around end-diasto le, and furthermore provides the basis for future clinical applicabili ty of this technique. (C) 1998 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.