Longitudinal Diastolic Myocardial Functions Are Affected by Chronic Smoking in Young Healthy People: A Study of Color Tissue Doppler Imaging

AIMS: Many cardiac and hemodynamic alterations occur after acute consumption of cigarettes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of chronic smoking on longitudinal myocardial functions of left ventricle in young, healthy people by using color tissue Doppler imaging modalities. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ninety-nine healthy participants were studied. There were 65 smokers and 34 nonsmokers. All subjects were between 20 and 35 years old. Sample volumes were placed on the mid left ventricle in the inner half of the myocardium at the septum, lateral, inferior, and anterior walls. The peak systolic strain (S-S), peak systolic strain rate (S-SR), peak early diastolic SR (E-SR), peak late diastolic SR (A-SR), peak systolic tissue velocity (S-TV), peak early diastolic TV (E-TV), and peak late diastolic TV (A-TV) values were measured. For the systolic parameters S-S, S-SR, and S-TV values were not different between the groups. For the diastolic parameters smokers had lower E-SR and E-TV values than nonsmokers (P = 0.03 for both). Although there was a trend toward higher A-SR and A-TV values in the smokers, they were not reaching the statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Chronic smoking in young, healthy people causes significant alterations in the longitudinal diastolic myocardial function parameters as assessed by color tissue Doppler imaging.