Noninvasive differentiation of cardiomyopathy from coronary disease; pulse transmission time and systolic time intervals.

Systolic time intervals and central pulse transmission time were compared in cardiomyopathy (CM) patients and age-and sex-matched patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Significant differences were found in pulse transmission time (shorter in the CAD patients (p less than .001) and in the pre-ejection period (p less than .001), ejection time index (p less than .05), and in the ratio of the pre-ejection period to the left ventricular ejection time (p less than .001); all were markedly abnormal in the CM group. Pulse transmission time differences may have been the result of more generalized arteriosclerotic disease in the CAD patients. It appears that both systolic time intervals and pulse transmission time clearly distinguish CM from CAD.