Assessment of myocardial ventricular function in donor hearts: Is isovolumic acceleration measured by tissue Doppler the Holy Grail?

Abstract

In summary, IVA derived from tissue Doppler echocardiography is a sensitive index of left and right ventricular contractility, which is relatively resistant to physiologic changes in loading conditions. Acquisition of data, using a standard echocardiographic machine, is simple to perform and analysis takes minimal time. As such it may provide a means to assess the contractile state and viability of the donor heart despite the complex hemodynamic changes that are expected, as well as to track function in the recipient. Its potential to non-invasively assess the force-frequency relationship also opens avenues of study of cardiac function not previously available in this group of patients.