Evaluation of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction with conventional and current Doppler techniques in Behcet's disease

Behcet's disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis characterized by genital and oral ulcers, uveitis, and other organs' involvement. Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction has been documented in BD. However, conventional echocardiographic techniques have serious limitations like its dependence on preload, afterload and heart rate. Recently, new techniques like colour M-mode and tissue Doppler imagining (TDI) have provided additional concept in the assessment of diastolic function. The aim of the present study was to investigate the LV diastolic dysfunction with conventional and new echocardiographic techniques in BD. Forty-eight patients with BD (25 women, 23 men) and 26 healthy volunteers (15 women, 11 men) were enrolled in the study. LV diastolic functions were examined with mitral inflow pulse wave Doppler, TDI and mitral flow propagation rate (MFPR). The following were accepted as diastolic dysfunction: in mitral inflow pulse wave Doppler, E/A < 1, isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT)> 110 ms and deceleration time of E wave (DT)> 240 ms; in TDI of mitral ring with pulse wave, E'/A'< 1; and in MFPR, velocity slope (Vp)< 45 cm/s. The two groups were comparable in age, sex, heart rate, body mass index, smoking, hyperlipidemia and basic echocardiographic measurements. LV diastolic dysfunction was significantly higher in BD group according to E/A < 1 (p < 0.05). When echocardiographic measurements were compared one by one for two groups, As' (late diastolic TDI wave in septal wall) was found to be significantly higher in BD group (p < 0,0001). IVRT was longer in BD group than in controls, but it did not reach statistical significance (p=0,06). Diastolic dysfunction of LV is more frequent in patients with BD than in control according to E/A and As'. Conventional and current techniques like TDI and colour M-mode Doppler echocardiography could be used to investigate diastolic functions in BD.