Effects of Left Ventricular Wall Motion Abnormality on Global and Regional Diastolic Function of the Left and Right Ventricles at Rest and After Stress.

Background: Diastolic dysfunction precedes systolic dysfunction in patients with coronary artery disease. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of left ventricular (LV) wall motion abnormality (WMA) on diastolic LV and right ventricular (RV) function at rest and after stress.

Methods: Fifty-nine subjects, 15 with LV-WMA (abnormal group) and 44 without (normal group), underwent dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) studies, in addition to evaluation of LV and RV diastolic function before and after DSE.