Ethics approval statement: The study process was approved by the
Ethics Committee of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Purpose: Introducing tricuspid annular systolic excursion
(TAPSE)-slope and assessing inter-observer variability of its timing
measurements
Methods: We performed comprehensive Doppler echocardiographic
examinations on 84 healthy subjects (mean age: 36.3 years, range: 30-50
years, 51 women, 33 men). In color-coded M-mode tracing of right
ventricle’s free wall, peak systolic excursion was defined. TAPSE and
time from initial QRS to peak systole in color-coded M-mode were
measured, and TAPSE-slope was calculated based on this formula: TAPSE
slope=TAPSE/TAPSE-t. For the evaluation of inter-observer variability,
two other cardiologists measured TAPSE-t in offline mode separately.
Results: The average (SD) of the ”TAPSE-slope” was 7.0(1.0)
cm/sec, the average (SD) TAPSE was 2.42(0.3) cm, and an average TAPSE-t
of 343(27.6) msec. A significant difference was seen in TAPSE-slope
between men and women (P value=0.001). No significant difference was
detected in TAPSE-slope in people younger than 40 years old compared
with participants older than 40 years. Intra-class correlation
coefficient value of the TAPSE-t measurement was 0.886, showing
excellent agreement between three different raters.
Conclusion: TAPSE-slope may have added value compared to TAPSE
alone for the assessment of right ventricular systolic function.
KEYWORDS: Right ventricle, Right ventricular systolic function,
Echocardiography, TAPSE-slope, TAPSE, Inter-observer variability, Color
M-Mode