Echocardiography
Conventional echocardiography was performed with 2-dimensional, M-mode, pulsed wave, continuous, color Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) using Philips Epiq 7 ultrasound system (Philips, Andover, Mass., USA). Simultaneous ECG recording was done. All patients were in sinus rhythm at the time of examination. Conventional echocardiographic images were obtained from the parasternal and apical views according to the guidelines of the American Society of Echocardiography (8 ). Left ventricular (LV) diameters and wall thickness were measured from the para- sternal views by M-mode echocardiography. The Simpson’s method was used for the calculation of LV ejection fraction. The left atrial area and diameter were measured from the parasternal long axis view. Mitral inflow velocities were measured from apical views.