Left ventricular hypertrophy and its regression in essential arterial hypertension. A tissue Doppler imaging study.

The mitral annulus velocities of Doppler transmitral flow and pulsed-wave tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) were sampled by echocardiography for the assessment of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function in 118 never-treated essential hypertensive patients with normal systolic function and compared with those of 59 normotensive healthy subjects matched for age and sex. A selected group (n = 26) of the hypertensive study population was observed after 1 year of pharmacologic antihypertensive treatment to determine the behavior of TDI parameters in relation to eventual regression of LV hypertrophy (LVH). We found that the TDI early myocardial diastolic wave (E(m)) was significantly lower both in concentric and eccentric LVH.

Severe aortic stenosis and myocardial function: diagnostic and prognostic usefulness of ultrasonic integrated backscatter analysis.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the myocardial reflectivity pattern in severe aortic valve stenosis through the use of integrated backscatter (IBS) analysis. Patients with aortic stenosis (AS) were carefully selected in the Department of Cardiology.

Methods And Results: Thirty-five subjects (AS: valve orifice < or =1 cm2; 12 female; mean age, 71.

Assessment of myocardial perfusion with intravenous contrast echocardiography: comparison with (99) Tc-tetrofosmin single photon emission computed tomography and dobutamine echocardiography.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of intermittent, harmonic power Doppler (HPD) during intravenous Levovist infusion in identifying myocardial perfusion abnormalities in patients with recent infarction. Fifty-five patients with first acute myocardial infarction, successfully treated by primary PTCA, were studied after 1 month by myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE), 99mTc tetrofosmin single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and low dose dobutamine echocardiography (DE). Scoring myocardial perfusion as normal, moderately, or severely reduced; MCE and SPECT were in agreement in 71% of segments(k = 0.

Doppler-derived mitral and pulmonary venous flow variables are predictors of pulmonary hypertension in dilated cardiomyopathy.

This study assessed whether Doppler-derived mitral and pulmonary venous flow parameters were predictors of pulmonary artery hypertension in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. Doppler echocardiographic examinations were performed in patients (n = 100) with dilated cardiomyopathy in sinus rhythm either symptomatic or asymptomatic before and after optimized therapy with ACE inhibitors, diuretics, and vasodilators. In case of weak or poor Doppler signals, measurable tricuspid regurgitation and pulmonary venous flow tracings were obtained after intravenous administration of 2.

Ultrasonic tissue characterization and Doppler tissue imaging in the analysis of left ventricular function in essential arterial hypertension: a preliminary study.

It is not known if diastolic abnormalities are independent of systolic dysfunction in arterial hypertension. We studied three groups of 10 male subjects of comparable mean age (31.6 +/- 3.