Left ventricular filling and diastolic myocardial deformation in chronic primary mitral regurgitation.

Aims: Chronic primary mitral regurgitation (MR) results in enhanced filling of the left ventricle (LV) during early diastole. Filling is impaired with the onset of LV systolic dysfunction, due to increased myocardial stiffness and reduced restoring forces. We investigated echocardiographic parameters of early diastolic function in relation to LV systolic function.