[Echocardiographic measurement of true left ventricular inotropism in patients under haemodialysis (author's transl)].

M-mode echocardiography was performed 18 to 22 hours after a haemodialysis session in 16 patients under chronic dialysis. The patients (12 men and 4 women, mean age 21 years, haematocrit 24 +/- 5%) were normotensive and had no clinical or radiological sign of heart failure. Patients with renal hypertension, diabetes or amyloidosis had been excluded from the study. Eight healthy subjects of similar age, heart rate and blood pressure were used as controls. In all 24 individuals the following parameters were calculated: end diastolic time diameter index (DTDI), end systolic time diameter index (STDI), ejection time (ET), mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (VCF) and ejection fraction (EF). DTDI was greater in haemodialyzed patients (31 +/- 2 mm/m2) than in controls, but STDI and ET were the same in both groups. This would explain the increase of VCF (1.68 +/- 0.1 c/sec) and EF (0.78 +/- 0.05) observed in dialyzed patients. After compression of the fistula for 3 min the differences disappeared. These results suggest that the echocardiographic measurements listed above give a better idea of the true contractile state of the left ventricle in haemodialyzed patients, disregarding load changes due to the fistula, to anaemia and to intermittent volume expansion.