An assessment of two different methods of left ventricular ejection time measurement by transesophageal echocardiography.

Left ventricular ejection time (LVET) is an important component in evaluating left ventricular performance. This measurement is usually made by measuring the timing of the transaortic valve flow velocity by continuous-wave Doppler. Although M-mode has also been used for measuring LVET, it has not been compared with the Doppler method. We tested the hypothesis that the M-mode-measured duration of aortic valve opening is comparable to Doppler-derived measurement of LVET by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Measurements were made in 31 patients undergoing nonaortic valve cardiac surgery. The timing of transaortic flow by continuous-wave Doppler was compared with the M-mode-derived timing of aortic valve opening. There was close correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient, r = 0.86; P < 0.0001) between M-mode and Doppler measurements. There was no significant difference between the two techniques by linearity tests (P > 0.1). Bland-Altman analysis showed no significant bias. We confirmed the hypothesis that M-mode-derived measurement of LVET is comparable to Doppler-derived measurement of LVET. M-mode may be an acceptable alternative to the Doppler method, especially when transvalvular velocity gradients cannot be readily obtained. M-mode is a simple, yet often underused, method of evaluating LVET during TEE.