Noninvasive Doppler echocardiographic evaluation of left ventricular filling pressures in patients with cardiomyopathy

Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction can frequently cause congestive heart failure even in the absence of systolic dysfunction. However, diastole is a sequence of multiple interrelated events; and this complexity has made it difficult to understand the process of filling of the left ventricle in health and disease and to diagnose diastolic dysfunction. The interpretation of Doppler echocardiographic information has increased our understanding of this complex pathophysiologic process of diastole. Doppler echocardiography can aid in the diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction and predict filling pressures in selected subsets of patients. In this review, the current utility of Doppler echocardiography in understanding and assessing diastolic dysfunction will be discussed with particular reference to the cardiomyopathies.