Determinants of Left Ventricular Vortex Flow Parameters Assessed by Contrast Echocardiography in an In Vivo Animal Model

Background Various left ventricular (LV) vortex parameters obtained during contrast echocardiography (CE) have been recently described. The aim of this study was to investigate their determinants and associations with conventional hemodynamic variables. Methods CE was performed and LV pressure was simultaneously measured during pharmacologic inotropic modulation in 8 mongrel dogs. Customized software was used to assess both vortex geometric parameters (vortex depth [VD], length [VL], width [VW], transverse position, and sphericity index [SI]) and pulsatility parameters (relative strength [RS], vortex relative strength [VRS], and vortex pulsation correlation [VPC]). The associations between each of these parameters and conventional indices representing LV systolic and diastolic function were analyzed. Results VD and VW did not change significantly during pharmacologic modulation, whereas VL (P = 0.0034) and SI (P = 0.001) showed significant and progressive linear decreases from baseline during dobutamine infusion. Significant linear changes during positive and negative inotropic modulation were observed in all pulsatiliy parameters (P