Introduction: The diastolic function of the left ventricle is a main point of the physiological adaptations of the cardiovascular system to the various situations.
Aim of the study: Evaluation of left atrium diameter change during diastole and left atrial volume and their possible correlation with different left ventricular diastolic filling pattern.
Material and methods: Ninety patients with echocardiographically determined diastolic dysfunction and eighty healthy volunteers were included in the study. We measured left atrium emptying fraction (LAEF), defined as ratio of end-diastolic left atrial diameter to end-systolic diameter and left atrial volume. Mitral flow pulsed wave velocities were recorded. E, A, E/A, deceleration time of early diastolic filling, isovolumetric relaxation time were measured. Pulmonary vein S, D and atrial reversal velocities and tissue Doppler imaging of E' and A' mitral anular velocities were obtained.
Results: LAEF was found 0.6 +/- 0.4 (mean SE) in the control group, 0.81 +/- 0.04 in pseudonormal pattern (P < 0.05, control vs pseudonormal group), 0.89 +/- 0.01 in the greater A wave than E wave (P < 0.001, control vs restrictive pattern group), and 0.78 +/- 0.2 in the A > E group (P < 0.05, control vs A > E pattern group).
Conclusions: LAEF and atrial volume are a new and practical methods for the differentiation of the normal-pseudonormal mitral flow pattern, in particular in setting without new ultrasound technologies.