Transthoracic Echocardiographic Evaluation of Bronchial Asthma Patients

BACKGROUND is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways which is related to airway and hyper-responsiveness and is characterized by recurrent wheezing, and breathlessness.1 As asthma is chronic inflammation of airways, many are produced during early and late phases, which are potent depressants cardiac contractility. Bronchial asthma affects many organs including the heart. are many explanations for the occurrence of cardiac dysfunction in patients.2-4 is suggested that recurrent exposure to hypoxia may pulmonary arterial hypertension, which causes RV hypertrophy and/or .2 is also suggested that recurrent hypoxemia and the release of various and cytokines in bronchial asthma may cause chronic inflammation, could induce pulmonary vasoconstriction.3,4 Other hypotheses concluded the exaggerated respiratory efforts may raise intrathoracic pressure that RV afterload and consequently pulmonary hypertension with RV and/or dilatation. As a result, pulmonary hypertension occurs and to RV hypertrophy and/or dilatation.3-5 As a result of chronic pressure , the RV hypertrophies, dilates and leads to both systolic and diastolic .5 We wanted to investigate cardiac dysfunction in bronchial asthma . study was conducted in 50 bronchial asthma patients in 2013-2014. All were to detailed clinical evaluation and trans-thoracic echocardiography. 74% of patients had abnormal echocardiography, out of these, maximum (51.35%) had impaired left ventricular diastolic relaxation. 16.21% patients had arterial hypertension and 24.3% of the patients had both. 2D-Echo may be an important non-invasive tool to rule out any underlying cardiac of asthma and PAH or other cardiac co-morbidities in bronchial asthma, and for further management of the patient.