[Assessment of left atrial wall velocities by pulsed wave tissue Doppler imaging. A new approach to the study of atrial function].

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES To analyze the profile of left atrial wall velocities by pulsed wave tissue Doppler imaging, and to compare the relationship between these observations and the transmitral and pulmonary vein flow velocities obtained by conventional pulsed Doppler echocardiography. PATIENTS AND METHOD We studied 90 patients (50 women and 40 men, mean age 48 [22] years). Pulsed tissue Doppler images of the left atrial wall were obtained and analyzed in all subjects. The study population was then divided in two groups: group I (age < 45 years) and group II (age > 45 years). Transmitral and pulmonary vein flow velocity tracings were obtained simultaneously by pulsed Doppler echocardiography. RESULTS With pulsed tissue Doppler interrogation of the left atrial wall, a triphasic signal was recorded in all patients, consisting of a positive wave (A1) followed by two negative waves (A2 and A3). Younger subjects (group I) showed a pattern with a prominent A2 wave and an A2/A3 ratio > 1. In older patients (group II) peak velocity of the A2 wave diminished and peak velocity of the A3 wave increased, so that the A2/A3 ratio was < 1. We found no differences in peak velocity of the A1 wave between the two age groups (13.5 (3.9) cm/s in group I vs 13.1 (5.4) cm/s in group II; P = .59). Significant concordance was observed between the transmitral flow pattern and the left atrial pulsed tissue Doppler tracing (kappa = 0.584; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS Evaluation of the left atrial wall using pulsed tissue Doppler imaging is feasible and reproducible. Tissue Doppler imaging provides new quantitative insights of potential use in the assessment of left atrial function.