Reference values of tissue Doppler imaging and pulsed Doppler echocardiography for analysis of left ventricular diastolic function in healthy adults.

To determine reference values for tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and pulsed Doppler echocardiography for left ventricular diastolic function analysis in a healthy Brazilian adult population. Observations were based on a randomly selected healthy population from the city of Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Healthy volunteers (n = 275, 61.7% women) without prior histories of cardiovascular disease underwent transthoracic echocardiography. We analyzed 175 individuals by TDI and evaluated mitral annulus E'- and A'-waves from the septum (S) and lateral wall (L) to calculate E'/A' ratios. Using pulsed Doppler echocardiography, we further analyzed the mitral E- and A-waves, E/A ratios, isovolumetric relaxation times (IRTs), and deceleration times (DTs) of 275 individuals. Pulsed Doppler mitral inflow mean values for men were as follows: E-wave: 71 ± 16 cm/sec, A-wave: 68 ± 15 cm/sec, IRT: 74.8 ± 9.2 ms, DT: 206 ± 32.3 ms, E/A ratio: 1.1 ± 0.3. Pulsed Doppler mitral inflow mean values for women were as follows: E-wave: 76 ± 17, A-wave: 69 ± 14 cm/sec, IRT: 71.2 ± 10.5 ms, DT: 197 ± 33.3 ms, E/A ratio: 1.1 ± 0.3. IRT and DT values were higher in men than in women (P = 0.04 and P = 0.007, respectively). TDI values in men were as follows: E'S: 11± 3 cm/sec, A'S: 13 ± 2 cm/sec, E'S/A'S: 0.89 ± 0.2, E'L: 14 ± 3 cm/sec, A'L: 14 ± 2 cm/sec, E'L/A'L: 1.1± 0.4. E-wave/ E'S ratio: 6.9 ± 2.2; E-wave / E'L ratio: 4.9 ± 1.7. In this study, we determined pulsed Doppler and TDI derived parameters for left ventricular diastolic function in a large sample of healthy Brazilian adults.