title: Impaired Diastolic Recovery after Acute Myocardial Infarction as a Predictor of Adverse Events.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the impact of left ventricular (LV) diastolic functional recovery on major adverse cardiac events (MACE) 6 months after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with preserved LV systolic function.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total 463 patients with preserved LV systolic function at 6 months after an AMI were divided into two groups based on the extent of diastolic recovery assessed by echocardiography: group I (n = 241) showed improving diastolic function and group II (n = 222) did not. MACE included death, recurrent myocardial infarction, and rehospitalization due to heart failure, and these events were compared with the patients' characteristics at baseline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with group I, the patients in group II were older and had a higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes. Blood levels of hemoglobin and triglyceride were lower in group II, whereas the levels of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were higher in this group than in group I. MACE were significantly more frequent in group II than in group I. Age, elevated NT-proBNP, and impaired diastolic recovery were significant independent predictors of MACE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite improvement in LV systolic function, LV diastolic function had not improved in 222 patients (47.9%) by the 6-month follow-up after the index AMI, and impaired diastolic functional recovery was found to be an independent predictor of MACE. Evaluation of diastolic function would be a useful way to stratify risk in patients discharged after an index AMI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Kye Hun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Yoon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Nam Sik
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung Wook
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Joon
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Han
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Youngkeun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Gwan
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Chun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: Diastolic function; Myocardial infarction; Prognosis