Echocardiograhy Definitions for PEFF
Continous Wave
Doppler (CW)
The US transducer emits and receives the ultrasound beam
continuously, enabling measurements of high velocity blood
flow, but its ability to localize a flow signal precisely is
limited since the signal can originate at any point along the
length or width of the ultrasound beam
Pulse Wave
The US transducer uses a single crystal that emits an
Doppler (PW)
ultrasound signal and then to receive after a pre-set time
delay in order to measure the desired blood velocity shifts in
a specific area
Tissue Doppler
Utilizes modifications of blood flow Doppler, but permits an
Imaging (TDI)
assessment of myocardial motion with color coding, using
frequency shifts to calculate the lower myocardial velocity
changes
Sweep Speed
Correlates to the speed at which the echocardiography
information is relayed on the monitor display, similar to and
ECG sweep speed
M-Mode
The US transducer transmits and receives the signal along
only one line in order to record detailed moving structures.
It produces a graph of depth and strength of reflection with
time.
E Wave
Represents the blood velocity across the mitral valve during
passive early diastolic LV filling
A Wave
Represents the blood velocity across the mitral valve during
the active late diastolic LV filling due to LA contraction
EA Ratio
Ratio of the early (E) to late (A) ventricular filling velocities.
In a healthy heart, the E velocity is greater than the A
velocity.
Deceleration time
Represents the time from the E wave peak to the point where
the deceleration slope hits the baseline
Table 3: Detailed descriptions of commonly used terms in echocardiography
in patients with Preserved Ejection Fraction in Failure (PEFF).