Value of annular M‐mode displacement <i>vs</i> tissue Doppler velocities to assess cardiac function in intrauterine growth restriction

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>To compare the ability of two different methods for longitudinal annular motion measurement, M‐mode and tissue Doppler imaging (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TDI</jats:styled-content>), to demonstrate cardiac dysfunction in intrauterine‐growth‐restricted (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IUGR</jats:styled-content>) fetuses.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>Cardiac longitudinal annular motion in the basal free wall of the left ventricle (mitral annulus), interventricular septum and tricuspid annulus was assessed in 23 early‐onset <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IUGR</jats:styled-content> cases and 43 controls by <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TDI</jats:styled-content> (annular peak velocities) and M‐mode (displacement).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>All annular parameters were significantly decreased in the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IUGR</jats:styled-content> group with respect to controls using both methods. M‐mode showed a trend towards equal performance as classifier between cases and controls, as compared to <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TDI</jats:styled-content>, mainly in the tricuspid annulus.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Both M‐mode and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TDI</jats:styled-content> demonstrate annular motion changes and consequently cardiac dysfunction in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IUGR</jats:styled-content> fetuses. M‐mode imaging is simpler to perform and could be as sensitive as <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TDI</jats:styled-content> for detecting subtle changes. Copyright © 2012 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.</jats:p></jats:sec>