TY - JOUR T1 - Left ventricular atrioventricular plane displacement: an echocardiographic technique for rapid assessment of prognosis in heart failure. JF - Heart JO - Heart SP - 230 LP - 236 DO - 10.1136/hrt.78.3.230 VL - 78 IS - 3 AU - R. Willenheimer AU - C. Cline AU - L. Erhardt AU - B. Israelsson Y1 - 1997/09/01 UR - http://heart.bmj.com/content/78/3/230.abstract N2 - OBJECTIVE: To assess the prognostic value of atrioventricular plane displacement in heart failure patients. DESIGN: Patients were followed prospectively for one year after atrioventricular plane displacement determination. SETTING: Malmö University Hospital, with a primary catchment area of 250,000 inhabitants. PATIENTS: 181 patients with a clinical diagnosis of heart failure; age 75.7 (SD 5.2) years, duration of heart failure 2.7 (5.7) years; 100 men, 81 women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality in relation to atrioventricular plane displacement. RESULTS: Total mortality was 22.7% (41/181), and was highly significantly (P = 0.001) related to atrioventricular plane displacement. Mortality within prospectively defined categories of displacement was: > or = 10.0 mm, 0% (0/19); 8.2 to 9.9 mm, 10.3% (3/29); 6.4 to 8.1 mm, 19.4% (12/62); and < 6.4 mm, 36.6% (26/71). The groups were similar in age, sex, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor and beta blocker treatment, and cause and duration of heart failure. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality in heart failure is strongly related to atrioventricular plane displacement. ER -