Background: Available studies of the effect of hemodialysis (HD) on left ventricular (LV) performance brought ambiguous results. Therefore we aimed to investigate the effect of acute preload reduction induced by HD on conventional and novel parameters of LV structure and function.
Methods: Thirty-six patients underwent echocardiography 1 hour prior to and 1 hour following regular HD. M-mode, two-dimensional, and Doppler echocardiography were used to analyze conventional LV structural and functional parameters. Systolic and diastolic mitral annular velocities assessed by pulsed-wave tissue Doppler echocardiography (PW-TDE) and flow propagation velocity (Vp) of early LV inflow were measured as novel indices of LV systolic and diastolic function.
Results: After HD, all heart chambers including LV significantly reduced in their size. The reduction in LV mass was also observed. Parameters of LV systolic function-ejection fraction and systolic mitral annular velocity, significantly improved, whereas fractional shortening did not. As for LV diastolic function, conventional Doppler parameters and Vp were substantially changed after HD. Conversely, PW-TDE diastolic velocities were not significantly affected.
Conclusions: The fluid removal induced by HD leads to a substantial decrease in LV size and mass. The improvement of LV longitudinal contraction documented by PW-TDE seems to be responsible for the increase in global LV systolic function after HD. While standard Doppler parameters of LV diastolic function and Vp are significantly affected by preload reduction, PW-TDE diastolic indices appears to be less load dependent. Therefore, PW-TDE represents a promising method for the LV diastolic function assessment in patients on HD.