Abstract
Background: Color kinesis (CK), a technique based on acoustic quantification, has been developed to facilitate the evaluation of regional wall motion and left ventricular (LV) function. Recently it has been reported that plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) level is associated with LV diastolic dysfunction. The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of CK in evaluating LV diastolic function in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Subjects and Methods: Forty-six patients (mean age: 64±12 years) with AF were referred for echocardiography to evaluate cardiac function with simultaneous measurements of the plasma BNP. Echocardiography was performed for assessment of LV function, including LV ejection fraction (EF), early mitral peak flow (E), deceleration time of E (DT), early diastolic mitral annular velocity (e´), and diastolic CK. Diastolic CK images, obtained from the LV mid-papillary short-axis view, were analyzed by using ICK software. The CK-diastolic index (CK-DI) was defined as the calculated LV segmental filling fraction during the first 30% of diastole, expressed as a percentage. The mean CK-DI was determined from the average CK-DI of six segments (anterior, anteroseptal, septal, inferior, posterior, lateral wall). Results: Six cases were excluded from the analysis because of poor CK images. We found significant correlations between mean CK-DI and log BNP (r=-0.55, p⟨0.001), whereas log BNP correlated weakly with E/e´ (r=0.44), EF (r=-0.21), and DT (r=-0.15). Conclusion: The analysis of diastolic CK may be useful for quantitative assessment of LV diastolic function in patients with AF.
