Clinical study of wave intensity in assessing left ventricular function of patients with chronic congestive heart failure

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical application of wave intensity(WI)technique in assessing the systolic function of left ventricle in patients with chronic heart failure(CHF).Methods Ninety-four CHF patients and one-hundred twenty-seven healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study.AU CHF patients were divided into 3 groups by classification of NYHAⅡ-Ⅳ.The magnitude of W1,and the length of R-W1 interval as well as W1-W2 interval were recorded by WI technique.Left ventricular diameters and volumes in end systole and in end diastole were measured in 2D echocardiography,then calculated left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF).By pulsed wave tissue Doppler,the peak velocity of mitral annulus at systolic phase(Sm)was measured.Those parameters of left ventricular systolic function of all subjects were studied to observe the differences existed in the 4 groups,and to investigate the relationship between the WI indices and regular echocardiographic parameters.Results Compared with the control group,W1 was lower and W1-W2 interval was shorter in CHF groups,while R-W1 interval was longer(P＜0.01).Among all CHF groups,patients of NYHAⅢ-Ⅳ had lower W1 than those of NYHA class Ⅱ.The amplitude of W1 were closely related to LVEF and Sm in CHF group(r1=0.62,P＜0.01;r2=0.48,P＜0.01).Conclusions As a novel hemodynamic index which could evaluate the integral behavior of cardiovascular system,WI provides a potential exploration in conveniently and effectively assessing the LV systolic function of CHF patients. Key words: Echocardiography; Heart failure; congestive; Ventricular function; left; Wave intensity