Effects of postischemic regional left ventricular diastolic wall motion abnormalities or delayed relaxation following coronary vasospasm on global diastolic function.

BACKGROUND Regional left ventricular (LV) diastolic wall motion abnormalities detected by color kinesis (CK), an echocardiographic technique, may be a more sensitive measure to postischemic damage following coronary spasm than parameters of global diastolic function. METHODS AND RESULTS Regional LV diastolic wall motion was evaluated by using CK in 18 patients with variant angina on the day following coronary spasm, which was induced by intracoronary acetylcholine. Fractional regional LV cavity area expansion in the short-axis view during the first 30% of the LV filling time, was used to identify postischemic asynchronous diastolic wall motion. Regional delayed relaxation was observed in any of the LV regions in all the patients, who were divided into 2 groups (Group S: 7 patients with single-vessel spasm with regional delayed relaxation in one area. Group M: 11 patients with multivessel spasm or spasm of the proximal left anterior descending branch with regional delayed relaxation in multiple areas). In Group S, no abnormality (0%) was noted in any of the indexes of global diastolic function including the isovolumic relaxation time, the ratio of peak rapid filling to peak atrial filling velocities and the deceleration time. In contrast, in 5 (45%) of the Group M patients, abnormalities were noted in all of those indexes. CONCLUSIONS Postischemic regional LV-delayed relaxation following coronary vasospasm was detected sensitively by analysis of CK images. The indexes of global LV diastolic function are insensitive to postischemic damage following single vessel spasm, although they are somewhat sensitive following multivessel spasm.