Effect of food intake on left and right ventricular systolic tissue Doppler measurements

Systolic tissue Doppler measurements (s') have been used to measure the velocity in myocardial motion and are a valuable tool for evaluating the systolic function of the left and right ventricles. Digestion of food is known to significantly alter hemodynamics and may therefore affect s'. The effect of food intake on s' parameters has not yet been studied. We assessed whether s' is affected by food intake. Nineteen healthy subjects aged 26·2 ± 4·2 years were investigated. s' was measured with pulsed tissue Doppler imaging in the right and left ventricles before the subjects ate a standardized meal and also 30 and 110 min after the meal. Three measurements were taken in each projection, and a mean value was calculated for each. s' increased significantly (P<0·05) from fasting to 30 min after food intake in every measured site except in the left inferolateral wall (P = 0·15, NS). Several, but not all, variables returned to base value 110 min after food intake. This study shows that food intake affects the tissue Doppler variables used to evaluate systolic heart function. Further studies are needed in older healthy subjects and older subjects with various cardiovascular diseases.