Doppler echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular diastolic function in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis.

To investigate the diastolic function of the left ventricle in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS), 13 patients with PSS (3 males and 10 females; group PSS) were examined by Doppler echocardiography. As a control 8 age-matched healthy volunteers (3 males and 5 females; group H) were also examined. Pulse-wave transmitral Doppler flow velocity curves were digitized and curves of the first derivatives were obtained. In group PSS, total left ventricular wall thickness and left atrial dimension were increased, the ratio between the left ventricular end-diastolic dimension and the left ventricular wall thickness was decreased, late peak diastolic filling was increased, isovolumic relaxation time was prolonged, compared with group H. The patients with left ventricular wall thickening out of proportion to left ventricular end-diastolic dimension had decreased early peak diastolic filling. We conclude that patients with PSS have deterioration of left ventricular diastolic function, and the diastolic function is severely disturbed in patients with left ventricular wall thickening out of proportion to left ventricular end-diastolic dimensions.