Echocardiographic measurement
All patients underwent two-dimensional echocardiography according to
standardized procedures on EPIC (Philips Ultrasound Machine),
2-dimensionally guided tracings recorded during at least 4 consecutive
cycles and longitudinal and circumferential strain indices in all three
endocardial layers(epicardium, mid myocardium, endocardium) were
measured offline. Strain measurements were reevaluated in a second
review by an expert echocardiologist and data agreement was acceptable
:pearson correlation of GCS indices=0.774, pearson correlation of GLS
indices=0.523 .All parameters evaluated in terms of diastolic
dysfunction were compared in two groups. Normal diastolic function was
defined as E/A = 1 to 2 or declaration time = 150 to 200msec.
The results were presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) for
quantitative variables and were summarized by absolute frequencies and
percentages for categorical variables. Normality of data was analyzed
using the Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test. Quantitative variables were also
compared with t test, or Mann U test. For the statistical analysis, the
statistical software SPSS version 16.0 for windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago,
IL) was used. P values of 0.05 or less were considered statistically
significant.