ackground : this study was performed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of systolic time intervals using pulsed Doppler echocardiogram in left ventricular outflow tract instead of those using ECG, phonocardiogram and indirect carotid
arterial
pulse tracing.
Method : the pre-ejection period (PEPd), left ventricular ejection tiem(LVETd), the ratio of
PEPd to LVETd(PEPd/LVETd), peak flow velocity (PFV), and flow velocity integral (FVI)
using pulsed Doppler echocardiogram in left ventricular outflow tract were measured in 22
subjects with average age of 50 (30∼73) years. ECG, phonocardiogram, indirect carotid
arterial pulse tracing, and pulse Doppler echocardiogram in left ventricular outflow tract were
recorded simultaneously with paper speed of 50∼100 mm/sec. The parameters of the above
pulsed Doppler echocardikography and those of the conventional systolic time intervals (PEPc,
LVETc and PEP/LVETc) were compared in two groups of the subjects.
Result : PEPd/LVETd was significantly correlated with PEPc/LVETc and FVI (r=0.89,
p<0.01 and r=-0.72, p<0.01), respectively. In subjects with heart failure, PEPc/LVETc and
PEPd/LVETd were significantly increased (0.45±0.11 versus 0.33±0.05, p<0.01 and 0.44±0.08
versus 0.32±0.04, p<0.01) respectively but, FVI was significantly decreased, in comparison
to the normal subjects (12.8±2.1 versus 14.1±2.1, p<0.05).
Conclusion : in conclusion, systolic time intervals and FVI measured from pulsed Doppler
echocardiogram seem to be more useful parameters for the evaluation of left ventricular
systolic function than those measured from conventional indiret carotid arterial pulse tracing.
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