Objective and aim of the work: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequently encountered arrhythmia in clinical practice. Detection of concurrent diastolic dysfunction (DD) may be beneficial in patients with persistent AF. So the aim of the study was to evaluate the best echocardiographic parameter to assess diastolic function in patients with AF.
Methods: The study population consisted of 80 AF patients who were candidate for diagnostic coronary angiography or PCI. During the invasive procedure, the left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) was measured then all patients underwent routine clinical and appropriate mitral flow and tissue Doppler velocities as well as standard echocardiographic measurements were obtained within 24 hours of the procedure.
Results: the patients were classified into 2 groups, group A included 40 patients with LVEDP Conclusion: E/E' ratio is single best independent predictor of LVEDP with highest sensitivity and specificity when compared with other echocardiographic parameters.