In 18 patients with hypercholesterolaemia (total cholesterol > or = 6.7 mmol/l or LDL > or = 4.0 mmol/l a standard and Doppler echocardiographic examination was made before and after 27 +/- 7 months hypolipidaemic treatment leading to a drop of the cholesterol levels of at least > or = 1 mmol/l. Except for hypercholesterolaemia these patients did not suffer from any diseases with an impact on cardiac activity. Doppler echocardiography was used to measure parameters of diastolic left ventricular filling at rest and during 2-4 minutes of an isometric load. Lipid lowering therapy led to a significant drop of the deceleration half-time of early diastolic filling of the left ventricle at rest (from 88 +/- 16 ms to 74 +/- 15 ms, p < 0.01) as well as during an isometric load (from 83 +/- 31 ms to 61 +/- 31 ms, p < 0.05). The authors observed an insignificant increase of the rate of early diastolic left ventricular filling at rest (from 53 +/- 10 cm/s to 60 +/- 10 cm/s, p = ns) and during an isometric load (from 52 +/- 11 cm/s to 56 +/- 18 cm/s, p = ns). Similarly there was also an insignificant increase of the ratio of the velocity of left ventricular filling in early diastole to the rate of filling during atrial contraction (from 1.02 +/- 0.27 to 1.10 +/- 0.33 at rest and from 0.91 +/- 0.25 to 0.93 +/- 0.41 during a load, both p = ns). It may be concluded that long-term hypolipidaemic treatment in patients with hypercholesterolaemia contributes to better diastolic filling of the left ventricle.

Keywords: Echocardiography, Doppler; Humans; Hypercholesterolemia /diagnostic imaging/; Middle Aged; Ventricular Function, Left