Echocardiographic findings in patients with Behçet's disease.
Case-controlled studies have shown that the prevalence of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is higher in patients with Behçet's disease. However, there are no data evaluating the value of Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) in Behçet's disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cardiac involvement and the LV function at rest and at the end of isometric exercise by pulse-wave Doppler and DTI methods in patients with Behçet's disease. Fifty-four patients with Behcet's disease and 50 control subjects were studied. Dimensions of cardiac chambers, aortic root dimension, valvular abnormalities, and systolic function were similar in both groups. The mean E/A ratio was significantly lower in patients than controls (1.22 +/- .09 vs 1.36 +/- 0.30, p = 0.01). The E/A ratio was <1 in 12 patients (22%) and in 3 controls (6%) (p = 0.02). By DTI, no difference was found in the mean S-, e-, and a-wave velocities, and e/a ratio between the 2 groups. The e/a ratio was <1 in 13 patients (24.1%) and in 7 controls (14%) (p = 0.2) by DTI. There were no differences in the mitral pulse-wave Doppler and DTI parameters in patient and control groups at the end of exercise. The prevalence of cardiac pathology in Behçet's disease did not differ appreciably from the controls. In conclusion, the LV systolic and diastolic functions in the patients with Behçet's disease and controls were similar not only at rest but also at the end of exercise.
Department of Cardiology, Cukurova University, School of Medicine, Adana, Turkey. abozkurt@cu.edu.tr
Abdi
A
Bozkurt
Onur
O
Akpinar
Soner
S
Uzun
Ayşe
A
Akman
Didem
D
Arslan
Ahmet
A
Birand
D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001794:Blood Pressure; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D018619:Echocardiography, Doppler, Pulsed; D004562:Electrocardiography; D015444:Exercise; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D015995:Prevalence; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left