Non-invasive determination of left ventricular diastolic compliance

The log-log relationship between the instantaneous height of A wave obtained from apexcardiogram and the diameter of minor axis of left ventricle obtained by echocardiography has been calculated. The log-log slope was considered to be an indicator of ventricular stiffness. The slope was significantly higher in different subgroups of cardiac patients compared with normal subjects. This points to its possible value in the study of cardiac function.