OBJECTIVE To study the prognostic value of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function and its relation with autonomic balance expressed by heart rate variability (HRV) in patients after a first acute myocardial infarction. DESIGN The study population consisted of 64 consecutive patients with first acute myocardial infarction and 31 control subjects. Long and short term HRV indices were evaluate...

OBJECTIVE Coronary slow-flow phenomenon (CSFP) is described as protracted passage of angiographic contrast agent to the distal portion of the epicardial coronary arteries in the absence of stenosis. Few studies have addressed the effects of this condition on right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. The present objective was to assess RV function in CSFP via 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiog...

Many indices have been proposed to describee the diastolic pressure-volume curve mathematically and permit quantification of the elastic properties of the myocardium itself in hopes that changes in the muscle caused by disease would b.e reflected in the diastolic pressure-volume curve. To date, none of the proposed indices has been shown convincingly to discriminate one group of patients from a...

BACKGROUND Although left ventricular diastolic function has been shown to deteriorate with advancing age, its gender-specific change is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate age- and gender-specific changes in tissue Doppler-derived left ventricular diastolic index, E'. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 1333 healthy individual without known heart disease or hypertension (mean age, 55...

We examined whether differences in the location of myocardial hypertrophy influence the right ventricular diastolic function in patients with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy using cineangiography. Biplane right ventriculography was performed in 34 subjects (normal = 14, asymmetric septal hypertrophy = 9, apical hypertrophy = 11) during cardiac catheterization. In patients with asymm...

BACKGROUND Anthracycline affects various cell lines, which may contribute to left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and vascular remodelling. AIM To assess the complex influence of anthracycline chemotherapy on the echocardiographic parameters of LV systolic and diastolic function and indices of vascular function and structure. METHODS 35 women (age 50 ± 9 years old) with breast cancer scheduled...

AIMS Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction has been proposed as the basis of heart failure in patients with normal left ventricular systolic function. Doppler indices of mitral inflow have been widely used to diagnose this condition and have been shown to correlate well with increased left atrial pressure in patients with cardiovascular disease. We wanted to establish age-specific criteria for...