For diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle (DDF), measurement of relaxation velocity (V(R)) by tissue Doppler imaging (V(R)), flow propagation velocity of transmitral inflow (v(p)) as well as the measurement of serum levels of N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) compete with the standard echocardiographic DDF-measures because of several disadvantages of the latter.
Martin-Luther-University, Halle-Wittenberg, Department of Medicine III, Ernst-Grube-Str. 40, 06097, Halle/Saale, Germany. stefan.hettwer@medizin.uni-halle.de
