Background Even though left atrial (LA) size and function are intimately related to left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction, the role of LA with regard to LV systolic function is less clear. Consequently, we examined the potential association that might exist between measures of longitudinal LV systolic shortening and LA dilation using LA volume index (LAVI). Methods In this retrospective...

To test the hypothesis that the training-induced improvement in the age-related decline in left ventricular (LV) function is mediated by enhanced inotropic responses to β-adrenergic stimulation, 10 sedentary healthy men, 65 ± 1 yr (mean ± SE) of age, exercised for 9 mo, which resulted in a 28% increase in aerobic exercise capacity. Training induced a greater increase in LV systolic shortening, ...

Background—Patients with diastolic heart failure (DHF) have significant abnormalities in left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, including slow and delayed relaxation and increased chamber stiffness. Whether and to what extent these abnormalities in diastolic function occur in association with abnormalities in LV systolic performance, function, and contractility has not been investigated thor...

OBJECTIVES Both aging and hypertension are significant risk factors for heart failure in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to determine how aging, with and without hypertension, affects left ventricular function. METHODS Cross-sectional study of magnetic resonance imaging and 31P spectroscopy-based measurements of left ventricular structure, global function, strains, pulse wave veloc...

Hypertrophy: What Is the Effective Role of Heat Shock Transcription Factor 1? To the Editor: In the recent interesting article by Sakamoto et al,1 the authors found that rats undergoing exercise training showed lower degree of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, higher expression and activity of heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1), and preserved LV systolic function in comparison with rats ...

Earlier studies have shown substantial nonuniformity in normal left ventricular (LV) myocardial function concerning both the degree of shortening and timing of shortening. We hypothesized that nonuniform LV function may be related to nonuniform prestretch induced by atrial contraction. Eleven healthy human subjects were studied using MRI myocardial tagging and strain analysis. The amount of cir...

BACKGROUND Patients with diastolic heart failure (DHF) have significant abnormalities in left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, including slow and delayed relaxation and increased chamber stiffness. Whether and to what extent these abnormalities in diastolic function occur in association with abnormalities in LV systolic performance, function, and contractility has not been investigated thor...

Global and regional systolic function during exercise were studied at cardiac catheterization with biplane cineangiography and micromanometer pressures in three groups of patients: an ischemia group (n = 22) with exercise-induced asynergy from coronary artery disease, a control group with no or minimal cardiovascular disease (n = 5) and a "scar" group (n = 5) with prior infarction and no new as...

to evaluate the prognostic significance of clinicopathological measurement in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (mi) in sheep, acute mi was induced by ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery (lad). for this purpose, twenty four healthy sheep were divided into the sham-operated or control group (group i, thoracotomy without mi) and the experimental group (group ii, with m...