Discussion

To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to assess the feasibility and test-retest reproducibility of all major measurements of left ventricular diastolic function included in the former and current guidelines. The findings, acquired from patients commonly encountered, are in accordance with a true clinical scenario and thus mirror daily clinical practice. Comparing the recent guidelines from 2016 with the more ambiguous guidelines from 2009, it was exposed that the classification of diastolic function in the guidelines from 2016 was superior in terms of both feasibility and reproducibility.