[Relationship between left ventricular diastolic behavior and the A wave ratio by the apexcardiogram: a study with echocardiography and pulsed Doppler echocardiography].

We investigated the relationship between parameters of left ventricular diastolic filling using pulsed Doppler echocardiography and the A wave ratio of apexcardiography (ACG), and then evaluate the characteristic features of diastolic behavior in hypertrophic hearts and in various cardiac diseases. The study population consisted of 68 patients and 25 normal subjects, and included 19 cases of chronic renal failure (CRF), 17 cases of ischemic heart disease (IHD), 16 cases of hypertension (HT), six cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, two cases of aortic stenosis, two cases of arrhythmias, and six of other cardiac diseases. The A wave ratio of ACG was calculated as the ratio of A wave amplitude and total excursion [(A/E-O) x 100]. At the same time, the peak early filling velocity (R), the peak late filling velocity (A), the ratio of R to A (A/R), acceleration time (AT), and deceleration time (DT) were measured from the left ventricular inflow velocity pattern using pulsed Doppler echocardiography. The results were as follows: 1. There was a close positive correlation between the A wave ratio of ACG and the A/R of pulsed Doppler echocardiography. 2. In patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), both the A wave ratio and the A/R were significantly higher than those in normal subjects. And in LVH with asynergy, both the A wave ratio and the A/R were significantly higher than those in LVH without asynergy. 3. In CRF, IHD, and HT, both the A wave ration and the A/R were significantly higher than those in normal subjects, but there were no significant differences among these three disease entities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)