Calculation of left ventricular relaxation time constant-Tau in patients with aortic regurgitation by continuous-wave Doppler.

Left ventricular relaxation time constant, Tau, is the best index to evaluate left ventricular diastolic function. The measurement is only available traditionally in catheter lab. In Echo lab, several methods of non-invasive measurement of Tau have been tried since 1992, however almost all the methods are still utilizing the same formula to calculate Tau as in catheter lab, which makes them inconvenient, time-consuming and sometimes not very accurate. A simple method to calculate Tau in patients with mitral regurgitation has been developed just based on Weiss' formula and simplified Bernoulli's equation. Similarly, formulas are developed here by pure mathematical derivative to calculate Tau by continuous-wave Doppler in patients with aortic regurgitation.