A-wave acceleration: a new Doppler echocardiographic index for evaluation of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in elderly patients.

Age alters Doppler indexes of left ventricular diastolic performance. Thus, the Doppler detection of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in the elderly is difficult. The reliability of Doppler indexes in detecting left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in the elderly patients with cardiac diseases known to affect diastolic function were evaluated. Diastolic function using pulsed Doppler in 6 groups of 10 subjects each: elderly normal, young normal, and elderly with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, aortic stenosis, coronary artery disease, and dilated cardiomyopathy was tested. The comparison of elderly normal with young normal showed that A-wave acceleration did not change significantly. Comparing elderly normal to elderly with diseases showed that all tested indexes except A-wave acceleration failed to separate normal elderly from diseased elderly. A-wave acceleration appears to be a useful index that can help in diagnosis of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in elderly patients independent of age effects.