[Detection of left ventricular ischemia at rest by tissue Doppler echocardiography].
A 53-year old woman without a previous history of cardiac disease was successfully resuscitated from ventricular fibrillation. Despite a normal two dimensional echocardiogram, tissue Doppler analysis of left ventricular long-axis contraction revealed marked postsystolic contractions in the territory of the left coronary artery suggesting ischemia as the underlying pathogenetic mechanism. This was confirmed by coronary angiography which revealed a high-grade ostial stenosis of the left main stem. After coronary artery bypass surgery, the tissue Doppler findings normalized.


CONCLUSIONS
Assessment of regional long axis function by tissue Doppler echocardiography may yield important additional findings even if two-dimensional echocardiography is apparently normal.
Kindermann
M
M
Innere Medizin III, Kardiologie/Angiologie, Universitäskliniken des Saarlandes, Kirrberger Strasse, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany. Michael.Kindermann@T.Online.de
Schneider
G
G
Kindermann
I
I
Nickenig
G
G
Böhm
M
M
Hennen
B
B
D017023:Coronary Angiography; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D004452:Echocardiography; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D012984:Software; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed