BACKGROUND The goal of this study was to determine the value of systolic time intervals and their change during Valsalva maneuver (VM) in the diagnosis of left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). METHODS We included 166 patients admitted to the emergency department for AECOPD. Measurement of systolic time interva...

Serum thyroid hormone and thyrotropin levels were assayed and the myocardial function was evaluated by measuring systolic time intervals both in 30 patients with epilepsy on long-term carbamazepine monotherapy and in 19 healthy volunteers. Serum thyroxine, free thyroxine and triiodothyronine levels were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in the patient group than in the control group and systolic ...

Scintigraphic examination of the myocardium, using 99mTc-labelled pyrophosphate, was carried out in 17 patients suffering from systemic sclerosis. This connective tissue disorder very often affects the myocardium secondarily. The results of the cardiac scan were compared with the information obtained from the electrocardiogram of systolic time intervals. In addition, spirometry was undertaken t...

In order to assess left ventricular function, measurements of left ventricular internal dimension and its rate of change have been made by echocardiography in 7 patients with myotonic dystrophy and the three children of one of them, who were clinically normal but had abnormal muscle biopsies. Electrocardiograms and systolic time intervals were also recorded in all. Only one patient had signs of...