Cardiac time intervals by tissue Doppler imaging M-mode echocardiography: reproducibility, reference values, association with clinical characteristics and prognostic implications.

The novel TDI M-mode method is superior to the conventional method of obtaining the MPI, both when comparing reproducibility, validity, prognostic power and the ability to display both the systolic and diastolic function in one index. The cardiac time intervals obtained by TDI M-mode reveal impaired cardiac function in persons with hypertension even when conventional echocardiography gives the impression of normal cardiac function. The combined cardiac time intervals which include information on both the systolic and diastolic function in one index (IVRT/ET and MPI) provide prognostic information incremental to conventional and novel echocardiographic parameters of systolic and diastolic function both in the general population and in patients with STEMI treated with pPCI.