[Left ventricular function in patients under peritoneal dialysis treatment].

M-Mode echocardiogram and systolic time intervals were obtained in 24 patients with end-stage chronic renal failure before and after peritoneal dialysis in order to evaluate their left ventricular function. Before dialysis 9 patients (group A) showed an echocardiographic pattern of dilated cardiomyopathy, i.e. increased left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (EDD) and volume (EDV), reduction of fractional shortening (FS%), of circumferential fiber shortening (Vcf) and of ejection fraction (EF). Seven patients (group B) had the morphological and functional features of asymmetric septal hypertrophy: ratio of interventricular septum to posterior wall thickness (IVS/PWT) greater than 1.3, reduced EDD and EDV. Eight uraemics (group C) had no specific feature of cardiac disease, but only aspecific echocardiography signs of myocardial derangement. Peritoneal dialysis appeared to be associated with gradual improvement of the contractile state in group A patients, with reduction in echocardiographic asymmetric septal hypertrophy in group B uraemics, and with an aspecific increase in cardiac performance in group C patients. It is concluded that: end-stage chronic renal failure may have echocardiographic pattern of dilated or asymmetric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; peritoneal dialysis significantly improves the morphological and functional derangements of both clinical conditions.