[The significance of the self motion of the heart for the echo-cardiographic evaluation of the left ventricle].

The aim of the study was to analyse the motion of the heart with the two-dimensional echocardiography. With this method a swinging motion to the chest wall and to the apex at endsystole and early diastole in the long axis view could be observed. Moreover, in the short axis view a swinging motion in lateral direction in systole and a clockwise rotation at the level of the papillary muscles could be demonstrated. There were also changes of the beam direction during the respiration. Thus, a three dimensional motion not reflected by one dimensional echocardiography was considered. A given point of the ventricle wall, therefore, was not the same in systole and diastole, in spite of a continuously recorded structure in the m-mode. For this reason two dimensional echocardiography seems to be superior to one dimensional method, especially when systolic and diastolic parameters are compared. The entire motion of the heart has to be considered in one dimensional assessment of left ventricular function.