BACKGROUND This study was conducted to determine the effects of chronic pulmonary insufficiency (PI) on right (RV) and left (LV) ventricular function in young growing swine. METHODS AND RESULTS Six PI and 5 control animals were studied. PI was induced by transcatheter placement of stents across the pulmonary valve. Indices of systolic function (ejection fraction, cardiac output, and cardiac f...

Age is an important determinant of Doppler indices of left ventricular diastolic filling in normal subjects. To define reference values and factors of importance to Doppler indices of left ventricular filling in subjects of similar age, 58 men and 76 women aged 50 years underwent Doppler echocardiography. All those taking part in the study were healthy. When gender was analysed in a multivariat...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Uric acid and gamma-glutamyl transferase are prognostic indicators in chronic heart failure. Nevertheless, the mechanism underlying the association between uric acid, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and chronic heart failure progression and prognosis remains largely unknown. METHODS The association of uric acid and gamma-glutamyl transferase with flow-mediated dilation...

Assessment of diastolic function has emerged as another important contribution of echocardiography to the clinical care of patients. Diastolic dysfunction as diagnosed by echocardiography carries a negative prognostic value,1–3 and diastolic assessment is now a routine part of any complete echocardiographic report.4 Bhella et al,5 in this issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, investigat...

BACKGROUND Transmitral Doppler flow indices are used to evaluate diastolic function. Recently, velocities measured by Doppler tissue imaging have been used as an index of left ventricular relaxation. OBJECTIVE To determine whether Doppler tissue velocities are influenced by alterations in preload. METHODS Left ventricular preload was altered in 17 patients (all men, mean (SD) age, 49 (8) ye...

AIMS To investigate the effects of cardiac remodelling on left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, as evaluated by tissue Doppler and blood-pool indices, with respect to loading as expressed by wall stress. Cardiac remodelling is the major pathophysiological result of increased blood pressure and manifests as changes in the size, shape, and function of the heart. METHODS AND RESULTS We evalu...

AIMS The study aimed to compare the inter-observer reproducibility of new and traditional measurements of the left ventricular (LV) global and regional function. METHODS AND RESULTS Two experienced echocardiographers performed 20 complete echo/Doppler examinations and 50 analyses on ten healthy subjects. All recordings were analysed for systolic and diastolic conventional and deformation meas...

AIMS To investigate blood pressure (BP) in children with sleep disordered breathing (SDB). METHODS BP was measured during single night polysomnography in 23 suspected SDB child patients with adenotonsillar hypertrophy, but without respiratory or heart failure, or coma. The age related changes of the observed BP were normalised to the BP index. The BP indices were examined in relation to SDB m...

BACKGROUND Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction complicates advanced left ventricular (LV) heart failure (HF) and contributes to a poor prognosis. Levosimendan is a positive inotropic agent improving cardiac contractility without increasing myocardial oxygen consumption in HF. AIM To evaluate the effect of levosimendan therapy on RV systolic function, by using derived tissue Doppler imaging (TD...