Color Doppler m-mode echocardiogram

Color Doppler M-mode from the four-chamber view, recorded at a speed of 100 mm/sec, demonstrates the rate at which flow propagates into the left ventricle, represented by the slope of the filling signal. In the normal ventricle, the flow propagation is rapid and the slope is steep (panel A). The rate at which flow propagates into the left ventricle of a patient with cardiomyopathy and diastolic dysfunction is considerably slower (panel B). This observation is particularly useful when trying to differentiate normal from "pseudonormal" filling patterns in diastolic dysfunction.