Aims: Left atrioventricular plane displacement is proposed to reflect left ventricular systolic function and is strongly related to prognosis in patients with heart failure. Left atrioventricular plane displacement is a different measure of left ventricular function compared to ejection fraction, and the factors influencing left atrioventricular plane displacement are insufficiently characterized. We wanted to assess any relationship between left atrioventricular plane displacement and left ventricular diastolic performance.
Methods and results: Left ventricular diastolic filling, left atrioventricular plane displacement, and fractional shortening were assessed by echocardiography/Doppler in 54 patients with chronic heart failure (age 64 +/- 7 years). Left atrioventricular plane displacement correlated significantly with Doppler variables of left ventricular filling, in particular the inverse logarithm of early transmitral flow deceleration time; log-1 Edt (r = -0.61, P < 0.0001, n = 54). Left atrioventricular plane displacement also correlated with fractional shortening (r = 0.49, P < 0.001, n = 50). However, fractional shortening did not correlate with any Doppler variable. Log-1 Edt, fractional shortening, age, heart rate, left ventricular and atrial size, and degree of mitral regurgitation were included in a multiple regression analysis. Only log-1 Edt (P = 0.001) and fractional shortening (P = 0.03) correlated independently with left atrioventricular plane displacement. Among patients with similar fractional shortening, those with more compromised diastolic performance had lower left atrioventricular plane displacement.
Conclusion: Left atrioventricular plane displacement was related to both systolic and diastolic left ventricular performance, which may explain some of the discrepancies between left atrioventricular plane displacement and ejection fraction.