Effect of aging on diastolic left ventricular myocardial velocities measured by pulsed tissue Doppler imaging in healthy subjects.

We evaluated the effect of aging on diastolic left ventricular (LV) wall motion velocity in 80 healthy persons with the use of pulsed tissue Doppler imaging. The wall motion velocity patterns were recorded at the middle regions of the LV posterior wall and ventricular septum in the parasternal (along the short axis) and apical (along the long axis) LV long-axis views. In the posterior wall, the peak early diastolic wall motion velocities (Ews) along both axes correlated inversely with age (long axis: r = -0.61, P <. 0001; short axis: r = -0.55, P <.0001), and the peak atrial systolic wall motion velocities(Aws) along both axes correlated directly with age (long axis: r = 0.59, P <.0001; short axis: r = 0.65, P <.0001). In the ventricular septum, the Ew along the long axis correlated inversely with age (r = -0.51, P <.0001), and the Aws along both axes correlated directly with age (long axis: r = 0.57, P <.0001; short axis: r = 0.53, P <.0001). The Ews along both axes at the posterior wall correlated directly with the peak early diastolic transmitral flow velocity. The Aws along both axes at the ventricular septum and posterior wall correlated directly with the peak atrial systolic transmitral flow velocity. The times from the second heart sound to the peak of the early diastolic waves of the ventricular septum and posterior wall along both axes significantly increased with age. The times from the aortic component of the second heart sound to the peak of the early diastolic motion velocities along both axes were significantly longer at the ventricular septum than at the posterior wall. Pulsed tissue Doppler imaging may be useful for evaluating the effect of aging on diastolic LV function in healthy persons.