Diastolic function: a sonographer's approach to the essential echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular diastolic function.

Noninvasive assessment of left ventricular filling pressures by echocardiography has been validated by invasive hemodynamic studies and correlated with clinical findings. A comprehensive echocardiographic examination based on the referral diagnosis and patient symptomatology routinely includes efforts to measure specific parameters of left ventricular diastolic function. We provide a step-by-step approach to goal-directed echocardiographic assessment of diastolic function.