A new perspective on concepts of asthma severity, control and optimum treatment.

diastolic dysfunction [6, 7]. The elegant experiments by SANTAMORE et al. [8] demonstrated that the diastolic properties of the left ventricle can be modified by changes in RV pressure and compliance even without a change in RV volume. Ventricular interdependence is defined as the forces that are transmitted from one ventricle to the other ventricle through the myocardium and pericardium, independent of neural, humoral, or circulatory effects [9]. This phenomenon is a consequence of the close anatomic association between the ventricles, the key role of the interventricular septum and the pericardial constraint and can explain the diastolic impairment of one ventricle in the presence of systolic impairment of the adjacent ventricle [10].