Open AccessThe study of left ventricular diastolic function by Doppler echocardiography: the essential for the clinician
Author(s) -
Pompilio Faggiano,
Enrico Vizzardi,
Emanuela Pulcini,
Diego Maffeo,
Francesco Fracassi,
Saviodari,
Livio Dei
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
heart international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.183
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 2036-2579
pISSN - 1826-1868
DOI - 10.4081/hi.2007.e6
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiology , diastolic function , doppler echocardiography , diastole , ventricular function , doppler effect , blood pressure , physics , astronomy
An abnormal diastolic function of left ventricle represents the main pathophysiological mechanism responsible for different clinical states such as restrictive cardiomyopathy, infiltrative myocardial disease and, specially, diastolic heart failure (also called heart failure with preserved systolic function), which is present in a large number of patients with a clinical picture of pulmonary congestion. Although the invasive approach, through cardiac catheterization allowing the direct measurement of left ventricular filling pressure, myocardial relaxation and compliance, is considered the gold standard for the identification of diastolic dysfunction, several noninvasive methods have been proposed for the study of left ventricular diastolic function. Doppler echocardiography represents an excellent noninvasive technique to fully characterize the diastolic function in health and disease. (Heart International 2007; 3: 42-50