Feasibility of color doppler tissue velocity imaging for assessment of regional timing of left ventricular longitudinal movement.

OBJECTIVE--The feasibility of color Doppler tissue velocity imaging (c-TVI) with a high time resolution of 10 ms for simultaneous measurement of the temporal characteristics of regional left ventricular (LV) tissue velocities at different LV sites was examined. Methods and results--In 20 subjects with structurally normal hearts, inter- and intraobserver agreement and the beat-to-beat variation were tested in c-TVI profiles from basal and mid-LV segments of the interventricular septum (IS) and of the lateral free wall (LFW). For peak tissue velocities a mean error of less than 1 cm/s was demonstrated. For systolic regional LV velocity time difference, the mean error was +/- 5 ms, with the best agreement when sampling from basal LV sites. For diastolic regional LV velocity time differences, the mean error was +/- 12 ms. The longitudinal LV movement pattern demonstrated a pattern of incremental tissue velocity from basal to mid-LV, and from IS to LFW sites. Conclusion--The c-TVI method has acceptable inter- and intraobserver agreement and is sufficiently accurate to disclose regional time aspects of LV contraction and relaxation.