Does global left ventricular afterload impact left ventricular function in asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis?
In asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis, LV ejection fraction underestimates myocardial systolic impairment, highlighting the value of speckle-tracking echocardiography to detect intrinsic dysfunction related to increased global LV afterload.
In asymptomatic patients with severe AS, LV ejection fraction markedly underestimates the extent of myocardial systolic impairment. Intrinsic myocardial dysfunction is particularly common in patients with increased global LV afterload, and especially in the subset of patients with low-flow AS.
Lancellotti et al. (Thu,) studied this question.