[Assessment of left ventricular contractility in patients with severe aortic stenosis, low-flow, low-gradient and preserved ejection fraction].

Introduction: In patients with severe aortic stenosis, low-gradient, low-flow and preserved ejection fraction (≥ 50%) (LG/LFp) the decrease in stroke volume index (Svi) could be due to diminished contractility. The aim of this study was to analyze if low Svi in patients with LG/LFp is related to a decrease in contractility.

Methods: Thirty patients with LF/LGp and 63 normal subjects were studied with Doppler echocardiography.

[Assessment of diastolic function in Chagas' disease with pulsed doppler tissue imaging].

Diastolic function is involved early during the undetermined form of Chagas' disease (Ch). Pulsed Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) is a new technique to evaluate diastolic function recording myocardial velocities in the longitudinal axis. To evaluate the relevance of DTI in patients with Ch, we studied, with Doppler and echocardiography, 49 patients (average age 49 +/- 12 years) and 20 normal subjects (average age 45 +/- 15 years) as a control group (C).

[Assessment of diastolic function in Chagas disease with pulsed Doppler tissue imaging].

Diastolic function is early involved during the undetermined form of Chagas disease. Pulsed Doppler tissue imaging is a new technique to evaluate diastolic function by mean of the record of myocardial velocities in the longitudinal axis. With the purpose to evaluate diastolic function by pulsed Doppler tissue imaging in patients with Chagas disease, we studied with Doppler echocardiography 51 patients (age average 48 +/- 12 years) and 24 normal subjects (age average 47 +/- 15 years) as a control group.

[Non-invasive estimation of dP/dt of the left ventricle: is the measurement taken during the isovolumetric contraction?].

Unlabelled: Left ventricular dP/dt is estimated from mitral regurgitation (MR) jet as the rate of pressure rise (RPR) from 1 to 3 m/sec. In order to establish if this measure is made during the isovolumetric contraction (IC), we with MR studied 38 patients (age average 51 +/- 8 years) of different etiology. IC was estimated as pre-ejection time minus Q-first sound (S1).

[Ventricular diastolic function: a correlation between phonomechanocardiography and echo-Doppler].

With the purpose to compare phonomechanocardiography and echo Doppler in the assessment of diastolic function of the left ventricle, we study 45 patients (30 male and 15 female) average age 50 +/- 9 years. We performed phonomechanocardiogram, echo-M, 2-D and Doppler transmitral. They were classified in four group according to mitral flow pattern: normal 14 patients; pattern I by Appleton (PI) 14 patients, 11 with aortic stenosis and 3 with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; pattern II (PII) 12 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy grade III-IV and the last group of 5 patients with myocardial infarction with normal mitral flow but with impaired diastolic function by phonomechanocardiography.