Body surface isochrone mapping indexes in ventricular function evaluation, ventricular activation and RMS time value

To examine whether or not the sequence of local abnormalities on body surface isochrone maps (BSIM) reflects the site of wall-motion (WM) disorders, 75 coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and 49 normal individuals were studied. A 35-matrix BSIM (MAPCARD) system was developed and used. Ventricular activation times (VAT) and root-mean-square duration (RMSt) were measured. VAT measurements were more sensitive for WM disorders. RMSt showed sensitivity for groups with different ejection fractions and no value in WM disorders. The results show that map parameters may provide more useful information than conventional analyses in detecting left-ventricular dysfunction. These results, although preliminary, also show that VAT and RMSt parameters may provide new indexes for diagnostics and prognostics in myocardial ischemia