[The assessment of left ventricular diastolic function in patients with aortic defects]

Thirty patients with aortic heart disease and 10 healthy persons were examined for diastolic function of the left ventricle using two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography. The decline of the rate and volume of early diastolic filling, the rise of the filling during the atrial systole were revealed in 60% of the patients with aortal disease. The decrease of the ejection fraction of the left ventricle was noted in 23.3% of the patients. All the patients with aortic disease were distributed into 2 groups depending on the presence (group II) or lack (group I) of mitral regurgitation. Addition of mitral regurgitation in patients with aortic disease masked the deranged filling of the left ventricle and interfered with the diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction. A reverse moderately pronounced relationship (r = -0.56) has been discovered between the myocardial mass and impairment of the diastolic filling.