Editorial Left Ventricle Diastolic Dysfunction and Prognosis

To provide for tissue perfusion without pulmonary con-gestion, the left ventricle (LV) must eject an adequate stroke volume at arterial pressure (systolic function) and fill without requiring an abnormally increased left atrial pressure (diastolic function). Systolic and diastolic function must be adequate to meet the needs of the body both at rest and during stress (reserve capacity). Article see p 782 Normal LV diastolic function requires integration of left ventricular ejection, relaxation, and structure and is an active energy-requiring process.1 For example, LV diastolic func-tion becomes markedly abnormal immediately following coronary ligation, before detectable changes in other mea-sures of cardiac function, including wall motion or electro-cardiographic S-T segment shifts.2 LV diastolic function is impaired by all of the common pathological processes tha