Echocardiographic findings in patients with Behçet's disease

Abdi Bozkurt1, Onur Akpinar, Soner Uzun

  • 1Department of Cardiology, Cukurova University, School of Medicine, Adana, Turkey. abozkurt@cu.edu.tr

Insights

Behçet

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Rheumatology
  • Diagnostic Imaging

Background:

  • Behçet's disease is associated with increased left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction.
  • Limited data exist on Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) for evaluating cardiac involvement in Behçet's disease.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess cardiac involvement and LV function at rest and during isometric exercise in Behçet's disease patients.
  • To compare pulse-wave Doppler and DTI findings between patients and controls.

Main Methods:

  • Case-controlled study involving 54 Behçet's disease patients and 50 controls.
  • Utilized pulse-wave Doppler and DTI to evaluate LV systolic and diastolic function.
  • Assessed cardiac parameters at rest and immediately after isometric exercise.

Main Results:

  • No significant differences in cardiac chamber dimensions, valvular abnormalities, or LV systolic function between groups.
  • Pulse-wave Doppler showed a lower mean E/A ratio in Behçet's patients (p=0.01), indicating potential diastolic dysfunction.
  • DTI revealed no significant differences in diastolic parameters (e/a ratio) between patients and controls at rest or post-exercise.

Conclusions:

  • LV systolic and diastolic functions are comparable between Behçet's disease patients and controls at rest and after exercise.
  • While pulse-wave Doppler suggests potential diastolic changes, DTI does not confirm significant differences in LV diastolic function in this cohort.

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