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Regional and Global Right Ventricular Function in Healthy Individuals Aged 20–90 Years: A Pulsed Doppler Tissue Imaging Study
Umeå General Population Heart Study
Author(s) -
Lindqvist Per,
Waldenström Anders,
Henein Michael,
Mörner Stellan,
Kazzam Elsadig
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
echocardiography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1540-8175
pISSN - 0742-2822
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8175.2005.04023.x
Subject(s) - cardiology , medicine , doppler imaging , ventricular function , isovolumetric contraction , diastole , population , ejection fraction , isovolumic relaxation time , doppler echocardiography , basal (medicine) , heart failure , blood pressure , insulin , environmental health
The aim of the present study was to describe regional and global right ventricular (RV) function in a wide age range of healthy subjects of both sexes. We studied 255 (125 females) healthy individuals randomly selected from the Umeå General Population Register, age 58 ± 19 (range 22–89) years. RV function was studied using myocardial tissue Doppler imaging of the RV free wall. Isovolumic contraction (IVCv), systolic (Sv), early (Ev), and late (Av) diastolic velocities were measured. Furthermore, isovolumic periods and ejection time intervals were also measured. Conventional Doppler was used to study RV global filling properties. While systolic myocardial velocities were conserved over age, there was a decrease in myocardial E/A ratio with increasing age (r =−0.67, P < 0.001, for base) taken from the RV free wall. A similar age relation was found in RV global filling velocities with a reduced tricuspid E/A ratio (r =−0.57, P < 0.001). Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between global and regional E/A ratios at the basal (r = 0.58, P ≤ 0.001) and mid‐segmental levels (r = 0.46, P ≤ 0.001). Systolic myocardial velocities behaved independent of age whereas regional as well as global E/A ratio were age‐related. No relationship was found between regional isovolumic time intervals and age. Knowledge of these age‐dependent relationships is fundamental when evaluating RV function in patients.