The relationship between echocardiographic parameters and plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

The myocardial performance index (MPI), defined as the sum of isovolumic contraction and relaxation times divided by ejection time, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) have been utilised to express global left ventricular (LV) function. The ratio between early diastolic transmitral velocity (E, using pulsed Doppler) and early mitral annular diastolic velocity (Ea, using tissue Doppler imaging) has been proposed as the best Doppler predictor for evaluating LV filling pressures in a variety of cardiac diseases. Purpose: To assess the relationship between echocardiographic parameters (convention…