Physiological ventricular myocardial asynchrony

Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) is one of the main methods for the quantification of synchronicity of ventricular myocardium motions. Thirty-two healthy volunteers (18 men and 14 women; mean age, 35.8 ± 11.0 years) with no evidence of cardiovascular disease found in their histories or during the standard clinical-instrumental examination were examined for the physiological ventricular asynchrony parameters determined by TDI. The proposed relative systolic and diastolic asynchrony parameters (the intraventricular and interventricular asynchrony indices calculated in eight segments at the basal and middle myocardial levels) and the conventional absolute parameters (the septal-lateral delay S-L, the QS, QE, T s SD, T E SD intervals) were determined and compared. The data on the determined range of normal values of the relative physiological myocardial asynchrony parameters in healthy individuals are cited. Greater systolic and diastolic asynchrony were revealed at the middle ventricular level compared to the basal level, as well as of diastolic versus systolic asynchrony, which is discussed from the standpoint of the model of the helical heart.