Aims: To test the hypothesis that echocardiographic tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) reveals reduced myocardial function in hypertension, diabetes, and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in the general population.
Methods and results: Within a large, community-based population study, cardiac function was evaluated in 1036 participants by both conventional echocardiography and colour TDI. Peak systolic (s') and early diastolic (e') velocities, longitudinal displacement (LD), and the ratio of mitral inflow E-wave to e' (E/e') were measured. TDI revealed significantly impaired parameters of systolic and diastolic cardiac function in hypertension [n = 345; LD 10.1 (+/-standard deviation, SD 2.0 mm), P < 0.001; E/e' 12.4 (x/SD 1.4), P < 0.001], diabetes [n = 65; LD 9.8 (+/-SD 2.2 mm), P < 0.001; E/e' 12.7 (x/SD 1.5), P < 0.001], and IHD [n = 93; LD 9.4 (+/-SD 2.5 mm), P < 0.001; E/e' 13.0 (x/SD 1.5), P < 0.001] compared with controls [n = 533; LD 11.4 (+/-SD 2.0 mm); E/e' 9.0 (x/SD 1.3)]. This pattern remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, heart rate, and the results of conventional echocardiography.
Conclusion: In the general population, persons with hypertension, diabetes, or IHD have impaired cardiac function by TDI independently of the result of conventional echocardiography.