Effects of posture on left ventricular diastolic filling during exercise.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: Measuring the transmitral flow velocity with Doppler echocardiography is a useful method for evaluating left ventricular diastolic function. However, there are few data regarding the effect of posture during exercise on transmitral flow velocity. METHODS: The transmitral flow velocity with pulsed-wave Doppler echocardiography was measured during supine and upright bicycle ergometer exercise in 10 normal young men without cardiac disease (26.7 +/- 5.5 yr). RESULTS: The ratio of the early rapid filling wave to the atrial filling wave (E/A) was gradually decreased with increasing exercise intensity. At rest and during recovery, the E/A ratio was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in the supine position than in the upright position. This difference was caused mainly by the higher E wave in the supine position. However, E wave and E/A ratio did not differ between the upright and supine position during exercise. CONCLUSION: Although measurement of left ventricular filling is completely noninvasive and clinically useful for evaluating diastolic function, it was found that the E/A ratio was profoundly influenced by posture and exercise intensity. These results suggest that the potential influences of posture and exercise intensity on the filling velocities should be taken into account when interpreting diastolic function by Doppler echocardiography.

Author information

Author/s: Sato, A (A); Koike, A (A); Koyama, Y (Y); Yajima, T (T); Marumo, F (F); Hiroe, M (M);

Affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Medicine and science in sports and exercise (Med Sci Sports Exerc), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1999-Nov; vol 31 (issue 11) : pp 1564-9

Dates: Created 1999/12/21; Completed 1999/12/21; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 10589858, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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