Relations of longitudinal left ventricular systolic function to left ventricular mass, load, and Doppler stroke volume

Aims: To evaluate whether the peak systolic velocities of the displacement of the lateral mitral anulus (S-a) and of the mid-portion of the interventricular septal. wall (S-m) correlate with measures of left ventricular load, left ventricular mass, and Doppler stroke volume in normotensive and hypertensive subjects without clinically overt cardiovascular disease. Methods and results: Tissue Doppler imaging was used to evaluate S-a and S-m in apical 4-chamber view; standard echocardiographic procedures were used to assess left ventricular structure and traditional parameters of systolic function (ejection fraction, stress-corrected midwall shortening, meridional and circumferential end-systolic stress); pulsed Doppler was employed to evaluate stroke volume. In 87 subjects meeting inclusion criteria, S-a and S-m were not significantly correlated either with left ventricular end-diastolic volume and end-systolic stress, or with stroke volume; in contrast, endocardial and midwall fractional shortening were lower with higher afterload, as expected. Fractional shortening at endocardium and midwall, and S-m were lower with higher left ventricular mass. Mean S-a and S-m values were tower in subjects with low vs. those with normal stress-corrected midwall shortening, but tow S-a was not associated with lower stress-corrected midwall shortening in our study sample. Conclusions: While S-a and S-m might be indices of Longitudinal Left ventricular systolic mechanics, they should not be considered as measures of left ventricular contractility alternative to well-established parameters of systolic function, such as stress-corrected midwall shortening, in subjects at rest without overt heart disease. (C) 2005 The European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.