Systolic and diastolic dysfunction in patients with clinical diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy. Relation to symptoms and prognosis.

Abstract

In patients with the clinical diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy, markers of diastolic dysfunction correlated strongly with congestive symptoms, whereas variables of systolic function were the strongest predictors of survival. Consideration of both ejection fraction and deceleration time allowed identification of subgroups with divergent long-term prognoses.