Comprehensive and precise assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function is necessary to establish, or exclude, heart failure as a cause or component of dyspnea. Echocardiography with Doppler readily assesses LV diastolic function; advantages include that echocardiography is non-invasive, does not require radiation, is portable, rapid, readily available, and in competent ha...

A12262. 45. Kass DA. An epidemic of dyssynchrony: but what does it mean? J Am Coll Cardiol 2008;51:12–7. 46. Kasner M, Westermann D, Steendijk P, Gaub R, Wilkenshoff U, Weitmann K et al. Utility of Doppler echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging in the estimation of diastolic function in heart failure with normal ejection fraction: a comparative Doppler-conductance catheterization study. Ci...

BACKGROUND Patients with schizophrenia have a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases, which is associated with early mortality compared with the nonschizophrenic population. Early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases in asymptomatic periods in patients with schizophrenia would enhance their quality of life and reduce mortality. Echocardiography, carotid ultrasonography, and ankle brachial inde...

Methods A total of 43 consecutive patients (age 44 10 years) with moderate to severe PVS referred to Royal Brompton Hospital from 2002 to 2005 were retrospectively studied. Patient New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class was recorded. The RV (lateral tricuspid annulus motion) long-axis movement was measured by M-mode and pulsed-wave (PW) tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). Restrictive RV p...

assessment of ventricular function in patients with heart failure symptoms. Recent advancements in echocardiography permit measurement of myocar­ dial mechanics through the use of strain imaging. Current techniques are either Doppler based or rely on speckle tracking in two dimensions, but each has limitations. Accordingly, three­dimensional wall motion tracking (3D­WMT) offers rapid acqui ­ si...

There is predominate opinion among physicians managing type 1 Gauchers' disease (GD) that cardiac involvement is not an issue in these patients. In order to follow this hypothesis, we prospectively investigated 15 adult imiglucerase-treated type 1 GD patients by echocardiography, Doppler, and tissue Doppler echocardiography. This was a case-controlled study with 18 matched healthy volunteers. T...

Patients and methods We evaluated forty consecutive ATTR patients with Glu89Gln mutation, assessing cardiac and peripheral polyneuropathy involvement 18 male, 22 female at a mean age of 57.6±6,7 years. A clinical examination, 12–channel ECG, conventional 2D, Doppler and tissue Doppler echocardiography were performed. A comprehensive clinical neurological assessment was performed, defining the s...

Assessment of left ventricular diastolic function in the critically ill patient remains a difficult issue in clinical practice. Combined use of routine transmitral and pulmonary venous Doppler patterns in conjunction with tissue Doppler imaging have been claimed to allow bedside diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction. Although in the previous issue of Critical Care it was clearly demonstrated there...

Echocardiography is an invaluable tool for the routine evaluation of patients with congestive heart failure. A number of Doppler modalities are now available. In this comment, the haemodynamic determinants and the clinical application of the more recent indices of left ventricular relaxation, namely tissue Doppler imaging of the mitral annulus and the flow propagation velocity by colour M-mode,...