Left ventricular filling pressure by septal and lateral E/e' equally predict cardiovascular events in the general population.

PURPOSE

There exists no consensus on the site of E/e' measurement. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of septal and lateral E/e' along with the importance of their intra-individual difference.

METHODS

In 1775 persons from the general population, peak early diastolic velocity (e') was obtained by color tissue Doppler at the septal and lateral mitral annular sites. The endpoint was combined of cardiovascular death or admission due to heart failure or acute myocardial infarction.

RESULTS

During a median follow-up of 10.9 years, the endpoint occurred in 227 participants. E/e' and E/e' were equally strong predictors of cardiac events; in age- and sex-adjusted models they did not differ in AUC (septal: 0.8385, lateral: 0.8389; p = 0.94) or in continuous NRI (p = 0.84). Models using E/e' did not improve AUC or NRI, and the intra-individual difference between sites had no predictive value (p = 0.79). E/e' was generally higher than E/e', thus age- and sex-specific normal values were reported for both sites for a population free of cardiac events during 10 years of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Septal and lateral E/e' are equally useful in predicting cardiac events in the general population. Measuring both sites provides no further predictive value than measuring a single site.