Detection of early abnormalities of left ventricular function by hemodynamic, echo-tissue Doppler imaging, and mitral Doppler flow techniques in patients with coronary artery disease and normal ejection fraction

Abstract We have investigated the possibility of detecting early abnormalities of left ventricular function at the initial phase of ischemic cardiomyopathy. Sixteen normotensive patients with coronary artery disease and normal left ventricular ejection fraction and 6 control patients were studied by invasive hemodynamic techniques in combination with transmitral Doppler flow or with echo-tissue Doppler imaging. The extent of the percentage of left ventricular longitudinal shortening and the systolic peak velocity at echo-tissue Doppler were significantly higher in the control patients than in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy ( P P P P P P P P (J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2001;14:764-72.)