Among 90 consecutive patients with various degrees of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction (normals, LV hypertrophy, LV ejection fraction < 50%, and < 30%), mitral valve pulsed-wave E/A ratio showed a characteristic U-shaped curve with increasing severity of LV dysfunction. In contrast, there was a significant progressive decrease in flow propagation velocity of the E-wave (Vp), and a significant increase in E/Vp values with increasing severity of LV

Objective: To evaluate the pattern of right ventricular (RV) functional recovery and its relation with left ventricular (LV) function and interventricular septal (IVS) motion in low risk patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Design and setting: Multicentre clinical trial carried out in 47 Italian coronary care units. Patients: 500 patients from the GISSI (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell’Infarto Miocardico) -3

To evaluate the existence, timing, and determinants of post-infarction left atrial remodeling, we studied a subgroup of 514 patients from the Third Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell’Infarto Miocardico Echo Substudy who underwent 4 serial 2-dimensional echocardiograms up to 6 months after acute myocardial infarction. This study is the first to demonstrate, in a large series of patients, the existence of early and late left atrial