Diagnosis of Diastolic Dysfunction

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jakesaw

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Please excuse my ignorance regarding this, I'm just entering MS-IV--but why is diastolic function never mentioned on echo reports?

I have heard that up to 1/3 of HF patients have Diastolic HF.

I would assume that diastolic function can be assessed on echo???

If so does this require any special imaging modifications or could it easily be assessed on a standard echo tape?

Is there any "gold standard" for assessment of diastolic dysfunction? A way to quantify the dysfunction?

One unrelated question I thought someone might answer: If a patient were nervous during an echo procedure could the increased sympathetic activity "falsely elevate" the EF? In other words, might they actually have a lower EF than what is read on echo due to nervousness/ increased sympathetic activity?

Thanks greatly for any input.
 
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