BACKGROUND Evaluation of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function is essential for the management of heart failure. We verified whether LV diastolic function could be evaluated by measuring the fractional area change (FAC) using cine cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). METHODS We collected clinical data from 59 patients who underwent echocardiography and cine CMR. Normal, impaired relaxa...

Background: Emerging evidence indicates that diastolic left ventricular (LV) function is a powerful outcome predictor after acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We hypothesized that shorter door-to-balloon (D2B) times with early restoration of coronary perfusion may preserve diastolic LV function in STEMI patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). Method...

It was hypothesised that, apart from right ventricular (RV) dysfunction, patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) also exhibit left ventricular (LV) impairment, which may affect disease progression and prognosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate LV performance in a cohort of IPF patients using conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. IPF patients exhibiting mild-to...

This prospective, longitudinal study examined the effects of participation in team-based exercise training on cardiac structure and function. Competitive endurance athletes (EA, n = 40) and strength athletes (SA, n = 24) were studied with echocardiography at baseline and after 90 days of team training. Left ventricular (LV) mass increased by 11% in EA (116 +/- 18 vs. 130 +/- 19 g/m(2); P < 0.00...

Background and Objectives: Echocardiographic evaluation of the long axis left ventricle (LV) function has been reported to be useful for understanding heart failure in those patients with a preserved ejection fraction (EF). The global and segmental peak LV systolic longitudinal strain (PSLS), as determined by the 2D speckle tracking method, may be related with the conventional diastolic paramet...

BACKGROUND Aortic stiffening contributes to the left ventricular (LV) afterload, hypertrophy, and substrate for diastolic dysfunction. It is also known that aortic elastic properties could be investigated with color tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in aortic upper wall. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relation of aortic upper wall TDI and aortic stiffness and other parameters of LV dia...

Angina, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) are more common in women and are associated with adverse cardiovascular prognosis. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is established for assessment of left ventricular (LV) morphology and systolic function and is increasin...

Hypertension is associated with impaired left ventricular (LV) diastolic function. However, the impact of stress on LV filling treated hypertensive individuals unclear. Fourteen patients (mean age 55 years) and 14 age-sex matched normotensive controls underwent Doppler echocardiographic studies at rest one minute following supine ergometer bicycle.

Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and dysfunction due to hypertension have been established as risk markers for stroke in hypertensive patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in LV hypertrophy and dysfunction between patients with cerebral hemorrhage and those with cerebral infarction. The study enrolled 23 hypertensive patients with cerebral infarction, 25 hypertensi...

The ventricular response to passive heat stress has predominantly been studied in the supine position. It is presently unclear how acute changes in venous return influence ventricular function during heat stress. To address this question, left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function were studied in 17 healthy men (24.3 ± 4.0 yr; mean ± SD), using two-dimensional transthoracic echocardi...