Regional wall motion analysis in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

The indices of the global and regional left ventricular function were compared in 16 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and in 16 patients with ischemic heart disease, matched for ejection fraction and severity of heart failure. The end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes tended to be larger in dilated than in ischemic patients. However, regional systolic shortenings in anterior, inferior and apical areas were identical in both groups. The regional peak filling rates were similar in both groups and the indices of sphericity were identical. Thus, at a late stage, regional function becomes indistinguishable between dilated and ischemic patients. This suggests that, independently of the etiology, there is a common remodeling process responsible for left ventricular dilatation and regional dysfunction