Does tissue Doppler imaging differentiate physiological from pathological pressure-overload left ventricular hypertrophy in rats?
Myocardial contraction and relaxation assessed by TDI were impaired in pressure-overload LVH but not in exercise LVH. Therefore, TDI is more sensitive than conventional echocardiography for assessing myocardial dysfunction in pressure-overload LVH and for predicting early recovery in myocardial function after loading conditions normalization.
Heavy cigarette smoking, but not smoking itself, is strongly associated with RA requiring hospital follow up and is markedly more prevalent in patients with RA without a family history of RA.