OBJECTIVE The relationship between the left ventricular (LV) relaxation time constant and early diastolic filling is not fully defined. This study provides additional evidence that LV isovolumic pressure fall in the normal intact heart in response to certain interventions is not adequately described by a model of monoexponential decay and that its relationship to filling is complex. METHODS A...

Although there is evidence that left ventricular (LV) function is genetically controlled, the contribution of familial factors to variation and covariation of LV diastolic filling, contractility, and structure is unknown. Single- and cross-trait sibling correlations were estimated using bivariate familial correlation models in 200 white (400 pairs) and 374 black (539 pairs) hypertensive sibship...

There is limited information on the development of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in the absence of lung and cardiac comorbidity. This study aimed to investigate whether OSA patients without heart morbidity develop LV dysfunction, and to assess the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on LV function. Twenty-nine OSA patients and...

This case describes a 65-year-old male with drug-resistant heart failure. Cardiac resynchronization therapy was performed. We evaluated cardiac function with volume curve differentiation software (VCDiff) from QGS data with Tc-99m sestamibi. Left ventricular parameters during atrial-right ventricular pacing were left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 30%, end-diastolic volume (EDV) 156 ml, e...

Methods 31 patients (20.6 ± 10.3 years) underwent an MRI examination before and after (20 ± 18 months) pulmonary valve replacement or reconstruction (PVR) for the volume overload of the RV. For segmental analysis of the RV, a custom made analysis software was developed. The method provides an automatic contour detection algorithm for the determination of the RV blood volume and enables the user...

Left ventricular (LV) pressure-volume (P-V) loop analysis is the gold standard for chamber function assessment. To advance beyond traditional P-V and pressure phase plane (dP/dt-P) analysis in the quest for novel load-independent chamber properties, we introduce the normalized P-V loop. High-fidelity LV pressure and volume data (161 P-V loops) from 13 normal control subjects were analyzed. Norm...

OBJECTIVES This study quantified serially biventricular emptying and filling after infarction and related these to changes in volume, muscle mass, wall stress and contractility. BACKGROUND There are limited data on serial changes in ventricular dynamics after infarction. METHODS Forty patients had serial electron beam computed tomographic examinations during the first year after index Q wav...

Left ventricular angiograms of 16 patients with mitral stenosis and 18 normal subjects were digitised frame by frame to study regional diastolic wall motion. Left ventricular cavity volume and its rate of change were derived, and plots constructed to show regional wall motion throughout the cardiac cycle. Patients with mitral stenosis had a significantly reduced peak filling rate of 380±170 ml/...