Assessment of systolic and diastolic heart failure
Heart failure is becoming more common in western societies as their populations age. In the Rotterdam community study of nearly 8,000 people, the lifetime risk of developing heart failure from the age of 55 years was 33 per cent for men and 29 per cent for women, and its prevalence in those aged more than 85 years was 17 per cent [1]. Since heart failure is a severe disease with a poor prognosis, imaging is important for early detection, accurate diagnosis, estimating prognosis, and planning and monitoring responses to treatment. Many diagnostic targets can be studied to establish the particular phenotype in a person who is suspected of having heart failure (Table 27.1), and most invasive and non-invasive diagnostic techniques have been used to study them. In this chapter, we concentrate on evidence relating to the use of speckle tracking to study left ventricular, left atrial, and right ventricular function in heart failure. We review its technical strengths and limitations from a clinical perspective and describe how it is applied to determine the pathophysiological mechanisms of heart failure, to identify the underlying aetiology and to estimate prognosis. We also suggest some technical developments that if feasible might assist clinicians in improving treatment and outcomes for patients with heart failure.
Assessment of systolic and diastolic heart failure, Page 1 of 2
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