Doppler-Derived Myocardial Systolic Strain Rate Is a Strong Index of Left Ventricular Contractility

Background — Myocardial fiber strain is directly related to left ventricular (LV) contractility. Strain rate can be estimated as the spatial derivative of velocities (dV/ds) obtained by tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE). The purposes of the study were (1) to determine whether TDE-derived strain rate may be used as a noninvasive, quantitative index of contractility and (2) to compare the relative accuracy of systolic strain rate against TDE velocities alone. Methods and Results — TDE color M-mode images of the interventricular septum were recorded from the apical 4-chamber view in 7 closed-chest anesthetized mongrel dogs during 5 different inotropic stages. Simultaneous LV volume and pressure were obtained with a combined conductance–high-fidelity pressure catheter. Peak elastance (E max ) was determined as the slope of end-systolic pressure-volume relationships during caval occlusion and was used as the gold standard of LV contractility. Peak systolic TDE myocardial velocities (S m ) and peak (ε′ p ) and mean (ε′ m ) strain rates obtained at the basal septum were compared against E max by linear regression. E max as well as TDE systolic indices increased during inotropic stimulation with dobutamine and decreased with the infusion of esmolol. A stronger association was found between E max and ε′ p ( r =0.94, P <0.01, y =0.29 x +0.46) and ε′ m ( r =0.88, P <0.01) than for S m ( r =0.75, P <0.01). Conclusions — TDE-derived ε′ p and ε′ m are strong noninvasive indices of LV contractility. These indices appear to be more reliable than S m , perhaps by eliminating translational artifact.