Longitudinal plane colour tissue-Doppler myocardial velocities and their association with left ventricular length, volume, and mass in humans

Aims: The authors investigated the relationships between colour tissue-Doppler parameters of left ventricular (LV) function and indices of LV morphology. Methods and results: LV length, end-diastolic volume, and mass were assessed in 40 healthy adult subjects. Further, colour tissue-Doppler scans assessed peak myocardial velocities during systole (S') and early diastole (E') as well as acceleration during isovolumic contraction (IVCa) at the mitral annulus. Non-linear allometric relationships (Y = aX(b)) were calculated to provide size exponents (b), with 95% confidence intervals, for tissue-Doppler variables (Y) and LV morphology parameters (X). The b exponents for LV length with Peaks S' and E' were not substantially different from unity (b = 0.87 and 0.95, respectively, P > 0.05). Peak E' was also associated with LV volume (b = 0.39, r = 0.53, P < 0.05). IVCa was not related to any LV morphology parameter. Conclusion: Peak S' or E' divided by LV length was confirmed as a valid size-independent scaling index. Conversely, IVCa is seemingly size independent.