Right ventricular diastolic abnormalities in rheumatoid arthritis and its relationship with left ventricular and pulmonary involvement. A tissue Doppler echocardiographic study

Objectives: To investigate right ventricular diastolic function in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its relationship with left ventricular and pulmonary involvement. Methods: Thirty-five RA patients and 30 healthy subjects were submitted to conventional Doppler (CE) and tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE) to assess left and right systolic and diastolic function and to estimate maximal arterial systolic pulmonary pressure (PAP). To detect pulmonary involvement, pulmonary function tests and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans were performed in all RA patients. Results: An abnormal RV filling, as expressed byan inverted tricuspid (Tr.) E/A ratio, was detected in 12 (34%) of the 35 RA patients and in 2 (7%) of the 30 controls (P