OBJECTIVE To evaluate the right and left ventricular systolic and diastolic function in middle aged patients with sickle beta thalassaemia. METHODS Forty three patients with sickle beta thalassaemia were recruited for echocardiographic study while 55 controls, matched for age and sex, served as the control group. Parameters measured included: dimensions and wall thickness of left (LV) and rig...

impairment of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dysfunction to various degrees. These functions are energetically and tightly coupled: 1) at the cellular level, since adenosine triphosphate is a substance essential for both active contraction and relaxation; 2) at the myocardial level, because regional wall motion asynchrony influences global LV diastolic function (contraction-relaxa...

AIM To characterize the extent to which metabolic syndrome criteria predict left ventricular (LV) structure and function. METHODS AND RESULTS Metabolic syndrome criteria were assessed in 607 adults with normal LV function. The cohort was grouped according to the number of criteria satisfied: (1) Absent (0 criteria, n = 110); (2) Pre-Metabolic Syndrome (1-2 criteria, n = 311); and (3) Metaboli...

STUDY OBJECTIVES Early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E') by tissue Doppler echocardiography (TD) has been reported to be a load-independent index of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, allowing the early diastolic mitral inflow velocity (E)/E' ratio to be used clinically to predict LV filling pressures. However, preload independence of E' has remained controversial, and E/E' may not ...

BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) can be caused by left ventricular (LV) pump failure as well as by bradyarrhythmias. Hemodynamic differences between HF by LV pump failure and that by bradyarrhythmia have not been fully investigated. We hypothesized that HF by LV pump failure could be associated with both reduced cardiac output (CO) and increased LV filling pressure due to associated LV diastolic d...

Diastolic function has conventionally been assessed on the basis of the LV end-diastolic pressure-volume relation (Figure 1). A shift of this curve upward and to the left (curve A, Figure 1) has been considered to be the hallmark of diastolic dysfunction. In this situation, each LV end-diastolic volume is associated with a higher end-diastolic pressure, and therefore, the ventricle is less dist...

Normal LV diastolic function requires integration of left ventricular ejection, relaxation, and structure and is an active energy-requiring process.1 For example, LV diastolic function becomes markedly abnormal immediately following coronary ligation, before detectable changes in other measures of cardiac function, including wall motion or electrocardiographic S-T segment shifts.2 LV diastolic ...

OBJECTIVES To define physiological upper limits of left ventricular (LV) cavity size in trained adolescent athletes. DESIGN Cross sectional echocardiographic study. SETTING British national sports training grounds and Olympic Medical Institute. SUBJECTS 900 elite adolescent athletes (77% boys) aged 15.7 (1.2) years participating in ball, racket, and endurance sports and 250 healthy contro...

Objectives: To define physiological upper limits of left ventricular (LV) cavity size in trained adolescent athletes. Design: Cross sectional echocardiographic study. Setting: British national sports training grounds and Olympic Medical Institute. Subjects: 900 elite adolescent athletes (77% boys) aged 15.7 (1.2) years participating in ball, racket, and endurance sports and 250 healthy controls...

BACKGROUND Exercise and rehabilitation are important methods for decreasing the risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed to evaluate the effect of the cardiac rehabilitation (CR) exercise program on the cardiac structure and physiology in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS In this randomized controlled study, 146 patients with CAD were divided...