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Abstract
Doppler echocardiography is one of the most useful clinical tools for the assessment
of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function. Doppler indices of LV filling and pulmonary
venous (PV) flow are used not only for diagnostic purposes but also for establishing
prognosis and evaluating the effect of therapeutic interventions. The utility of these
indices is limited, however, by the confounding effects of different physiologic variables
such as LV relaxation, compliance and filling pressure. Since alterations in these
variables result in changes in Doppler indices of opposite direction, it is often
difficult to determine the status of a given variable when a specific Doppler filling
pattern is observed. Recently, color M-mode and tissue Doppler have provided useful
insights in the study of diastolic function. These new Doppler applications have been
shown to provide an accurate estimate of LV relaxation and appear to be relatively
insensitive to the effects of preload compensation. This review will focus on the
complementary role of color M-mode and tissue Doppler echocardiography and traditional
Doppler indices of LV filling and PV flow in the assessment of diastolic function.