Significance of Augmentation of Left ventricular Slow Filling in Pulsed Doppler Echocardiography in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

摘要

To investigate the significance of augmentation of left ventricular slow filling in patients with hypertrohic cardiomyopathy (HCM), M-mode-and pulsed Doppler echocardiograms were obtained with simultaneous recording of left ventricular pressure in patients with HCM. The large slow filling wave (LSFW) was defined as the slow filling wave whose peak velocity was more than a half of the peak velocity during the early filling phase (E). Patients with LSFW tended to have a longer isovolumic relaxation time and smaller E, and had a longer time constant T than patients without LSFW. Furthermore, in patients with LSFW, left ventricular pressure kept declining not only during the rapid filling phase, but also during the slow filling phase, but not in the patients without LSFW. Thus, the augmentation of left ventricular slow filling in patients with HCM might be caused by the delayed and incomplete relaxation of the left ventricle.