[Age-related changes in cardiac performance index (TEI index) with special reference to the difference between the ventricles].

OBJECTIVES

The TEI index is a clinically useful parameter of combined systolic and diastolic cardiac performance, but age-related changes of this index remain unclear. This study investigated age-related changes in the TEI index and the differences between the ventricles.

METHODS

Ninety-nine healthy subjects aged 14 to 89 years were studied using pulsed Doppler echocardiography. The isovolumic contraction time(ICT), isovolumic relaxation time(IRT), and ejection time (ET) of both ventricles were measured from the recordings of the ventricular inflow or outflow velocities and the electrocardiogram, and the TEI index of both ventricles was calculated as (ICT + IRT) /ET.

RESULTS

IRT and TEI index correlated directly with age in both ventricles, and the correlations of these parameters were better in the left ventricle than in the right ventricle. ICT and ET showed no correlation with age in both ventricles. In the left ventricle, TEI index showed a normal value (< 0.47) in all subjects aged less than 50 years, but showed an abnormal value (> or = 0.47) in 3 of 29 subjects (10%) in the sixth and seventh decades, and in 6 of 25 subjects (24%) in the eighth and ninth decades. In contrast, no subjects had an abnormal value of TEI index (> or = 0.37) in the right ventricle.

CONCLUSIONS

TEI index shows an age-related increase predominantly in the left ventricle, probably due to prolongation of IRT reflecting the relaxation abnormality of the ventricle. The effect of aging must be considered in the clinical application of TEI index.