Performance index – a new approach to the assessment of left ventricular systolic function

Abstract

The aim – to develop a new approach to the assessment of LV systolic function – LV systolic performance index. To check correlation of this index with left ventricular ejection fraction determined by standard Simpson planimetric method.Materials and methods. A total of 121 patients were included into the study. We first determined left ventricular ejection fraction by Simpson method for each patient included in the study, and then determined VTI in the LVOT and myocardial motion velocity in four LV parts. We evaluated the correlation of these indices with left ventricular ejection fraction and derived a hybrid index of LV systolic function performance based on stepwise multiple regression.Results and discussion. The myocardial velocity in four LV parts, its averaged value and velocity time integral in LVOT not only showed a high level of correlation with left ventricular ejection fraction, but appeared also its independent predictors in multivariate analysis. The hybrid formula «0.7 × Sum of MV + VTI» derived in our study provides an index of LV systolic function performance. A good correlation of the new index with left ventricular ejection fraction determined by Simpson (Kendall’s tau 0.818; p <0.00001) was revealed.Conclusions. We proposed a new index of LV systolic function estimation and showed that it allows reliable estimation of LV systolic function in various myocardial pathologies with less time.