Right ventricular functions in patients with slow coronary fl ow

Abstract

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions with the use of conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography in patients with slow coronary fl ow (SCF).Methods and results Patients who were detected to have SCF but otherwise normal epicardial coronary arteries between-10-2010 and July 2011 were included in our study. The control group was selected from the patients with normal coronary arteries but no SCF. All patients underwent echocardiography to evaluate left and right cardiac functions with conventional methods and tissue Doppler imaging. The study consisted of 86 patients [59 (68.6%) males, mean age: 54 ± 10 years) with SCF. Sixty-six subjects [42 (63.6%) males, mean age: 55 ± 8 years] with normal coronary arteries without SCF constituted the control group. Tissue Doppler fi ndings of left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions were signifi cantly disturbed in the SCF group (myocardial performance index: 0.37 ± 0.02 vs. 0.28 ± 0.02, P < 0.001; E/A ratio: 0.9 ± 0.1 vs. 1.1 ± 0.1, P < 0.001). However, when the right ventricular functions were considered, no signifi cant diff erence was observed between the 2 groups (myocardial performance index: 0.25 ± 0.10 vs. 0.25 ± 0.10, P= 0.9; E/A ratio: 0.50 ± 0.06 vs. 0.50 ± 0.08, P= 0.3; TAPSE: 26.2 ± 2.2 vs. 25.9 ± 2.2, P= 0.6).Conclusions Preserved right ventricular diastolic and systolic functions in contrast to the impaired left ventricular functions in patients with SCF was the main fi nding of our study. The exact mechanisms of this new fi nding should be investigated by further studies.