EVALUATION OF MYOCARDIAL VELOCITY CRADIENT BEFORE AND AFTER MYOPCARDIAL REVASCULARIZATION

Abstract

With the wide spread prevalence of coronary artery disease, many

non-invasive tests have been evaluated for their ability to detect • myocardial ischemia.

One of these non-invasive tests is echocardiography, which is widely used for detection of ischemia and evaluation of left ventricular function because of its ability to detect myocardial thickness and wall motion in real time. Yet, conventional 20 echocardiography suffers from the disadvantages of a qualitative method and it is subjective and experience dependent.

DTI is a new ultrasound technique that is based on colour imaging principles and allows quantification of intramural myocardial velocities by detection of consecutive phase shifts of the ultrasound signals • reflected from the contracting myocardium . The endocardium moves faster than the epicardium during myocardial contraction, reflecting the rate of increase in wall thickness. Therefore, the velocity gradient between the endocardium and epicardium in systole is an indicator of regional myocardial contraction.

MVG is defined as the difference in myocardial velocity between the endocardium and epicardium divided by the myocardial wall thickness if the transmural velocity profile is approximated as linear.

The current study included 35 patients with CAD as documented • by history, clinical examination, resting ECG and coronary angiography and divided into 2 groups: