Abstract
BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of left ventricular filling pressure in patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF) remains difficult. A novel 2-dimensional scoring system, visually assessing time difference between mitral valve and tricuspid valve opening (VMT) score, based on temporal analysis of early diastolic valve opening, could be applied to these patients. We aimed to determine the usefulness of the VMT score in patients with AF. METHODS: We analyzed 119 consecutive patients with AF who underwent cardiac catheterization as a derivation cohort. The diagnostic performance of the VMT score was further evaluated in an external data set containing 189 patients with AF. Elevated left ventricular filling pressure was defined as a mean pulmonary arterial wedge pressure ≥15 mm Hg. The time sequence of atrioventricular valve opening was visually assessed and scored (0, tricuspid valve first; 1, simultaneous; 2, mitral valve first). When the inferior vena cava was dilated, 1 point was added, and the VMT score was finally graded as 0 to 3. Conventional Doppler parameters to estimate left ventricular filling pressure were also measured. RESULTS: Pulmonary arterial wedge pressure was elevated with an increase in the VMT score (0: 10±3, 1: 13±5, 2: 22±7, 3: 27±6 mm Hg; P<0.001), resulting in a significant rise in pulmonary arterial wedge pressure from VMT score 1 to 2. VMT≥2 predicted elevated pulmonary arterial wedge pressure with an accuracy of 87%, and the diagnostic accuracy of the VMT score was significantly higher than that of conventional Doppler parameters (C index, 0.88 versus 0.54-0.68; P<0.001). In addition, VMT ≥2 showed an incremental predictive value over plasma brain natriuretic peptide levels (C index, 0.79-0.93; P<0.001). In the external validation cohort, VMT≥2 demonstrated acceptable accuracy of 72%. CONCLUSIONS: VMT scoring was a useful echocardiographic marker of elevated left ventricular filling pressure and had an incremental benefit over practical biomarkers in patients with AF.