Abstract
Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) is an echocardiographic technique that uses Doppler principles to measure the velocity of myocardial motion. In adults, TDI is recommended to assess systolic and diastolic longitudinal ventricular function by obtaining spectral traces from the mitral and tricuspid ring in the 4-chamber view. There are many studies of left or right ventricular function assessed by TDI in various heart diseases during the pediatric period. However, age-related changes of normal values of TDI parameters make it difficult to interpret data in an individual child in actual clinical practice. This review provides normal values for various TDI parameters and discusses the clinical usefulness and limitations of TDI in the pediatric age group. Mitral or tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion is another method to assess longitudinal function of both ventricles by M-mode. This review also shows normal values and clinical implications of this simple method. Because of their ready availability using conventional echocardiographic equipment, these methods should become a part of the routine assessment of cardiac function in children.
