| Abstract: | Ten patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were examined with echocardiography before and during verapamil treatment to evaluate short-term and long-term effects of verapamil on left ventricular diastolic function. All patients were in sinus rhythm and in NYHA functional class I. Effects on filling and myocardial relaxation were documented by digitized echocardiography obtained at rest and during isometric exercise before treatment, after two weeks (short-term) and four months (long-term) treatment, respectively. At rest a significant decrease of the myocardial relaxation time was found during verapamil treatment. A few patients, however, returned to almost baseline conditions after an initial improvement. A small increase in the peak rate of dimension change, a parameter of filling, reached statistical significance at the end of the long-term treatment period. Isometric exercise did not induce any changes in the diastolic parameters during verapamil treatment. A positive effect of verapamil was thus seen on both myocardial relaxation and left ventricular filling, but only in resting conditions. |
