[Carotid arterial wave intensity in assessing the hemodynamic change in patients with chronic heart failure].

Wave intensity (WI) is a newly proposed hemodynamic index that assesses the working condition of cardiovascular system. The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical value of WI in assessing the function of cardiovascular system in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). We used a combined Doppler and echo-tracking system to calculate the carotid artery WI in 16 patients with CHF and 35 normal subjects, and examined the characteristics of WI. The main WI indices included W1, W2, NA, R-W1 and W1-W2. Compared with those in the control group, W1 and W2 were significantly decreased in CHF group (5.44 +/- 3.24 vs. 10.05 +/- 46.33, P < 0.01, 0.83 +/- 0.42 vs. 1.50 +/- 0.95, P < 0.01, respectively), the temporal indices R-W1 shortened (141.06 +/- 41.14 vs. 109.77 +/- 22.50, P < 0.05) and W1-W2 prolonged (214.63 +/- 39.93 vs. 260.51 +/- 20.58, P < 0.01), and the (R-W1)/(W1-W2) ratio was significantly larger in CHF group (0.69 +/- 0.26 vs. 0.43 +/- 0.10, P < 0.01). WI provides a great deal of information about the dynamic behavior of the interaction between the heart and vascular system, so it is a new quantitative approach for analysis of CHF.