End-Systolic Volume Are Important Determinants of Peak Early Diastolic Transmitral Flow Velocity

Background. Three important determinants of left ventricular (LV) peak early diastolic filling rate, which is related directly to the magnitude of the transmitral pressure difference, are the rate of LV isovolumic pressure fall (T1/2), left atrial (LA) pressure at mitral valve opening (XI), and end-systolic volume (ESV). Methods and Results. To delineate the relative degrees to which these factors contribute to the magnitude of peak early diastolic filling rate, we measured IA and regional intra-LV pressures with micromanometers, LV volume with contrast angiography, and peak transmitral flow velocity (E) with transesophageal Doppler echocardiography in 16 anesthetized closed-chest dogs. E did not correlate significantly with either X1 (r= -0.255) or TI12 (r= -0.281). Multivariate analysis, with E entered as the dependent variable and X1 and T112 as independent variables, also failed to reach significance (R=0.310). E correlated significantly with ESV (r= -0.633, p<0.009). Using multivariate analysis, the major determinants of ESV were found to be LV contractility (+dP/dt), afterload (aortic diastolic pressure, Aodjas), and preload (end-diastolic volume, EDV) (R=0.848,p<0.001). E correlated significantly with two of the determinants of ESV (+dP/dt and Aodi2S) (R=0.906, p<0.001); however, the addition of EDV did not significantly improve the multivariate relation (R=0.911). To determine whether X1 or T112 would add significantly to the above multivariate relation, these factors were entered individually along with +dP/dt and Aodias as third independent variables. Neither the addition of X1 (R=0.906) or T112 (R=0.926) resulted in a significant improvement in the prediction of E. Conclusions. Our observations confirm the importance of factors related to ESV as important determinants of early diastolic filling. These relations suggest that the process of early diastolic function is intimately related to systolic function. (Circulation 1992;85:1132-1138)