No description available.

Familial amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (FAP) is a neuropathic form of heredofamilial systemic amyloidosis. Clusters of patients have been reported predominantly from Portugal, Japan and Sweden. The present study examines the involvement of the heart in individuals with the Swedish variety of FAP. During long-term ECG recording in 16 patients, a high frequency of disturbances of sinus node function and atrioventricular conduction were observed. Long-term ECG may help considerably in the evaluation of symptoms attributable to disturbances of heart rhythm in FAP. A retrospective survey of 20 patients with FAP treated with a pacemaker showed that the indication for pacing was advanced atrioventricular block (12 cases), dysfunction of the sinus node (5 cases), and atrial fibrillation with a slow ventricular response (3 cases). All patients experienced the effective relief of symptoms attributable to a slow ventricular rate. The long-term prognosis, however, seemed unaffected by this treatment. Histopathological examination of the sinoatrial (9 cases) and atrioventricular (6 cases) parts of the conduction system showed marked amyloid infiltration in all cases, which may explain the high occurrence of disturbances of cardiac rhythm and conduction. Twelve patients were examined by two-dimensional echocardiography and changes of varying degrees, such as highly refractile myocardial echoes (12 cases) and thickened ventricular walls (8 cases) and valves (7 cases), could be observed. Technetium-99m-pyrophosphate scintigraphy of the same patients revealed abnormal myocardial uptake of the isotope only in four. Echocardiography thus seems to be superior to scintigraphy for non-invasive detection of cardiac involvement in FAP. Myocardial samples from regions producing highly refractile myocardial echoes were obtained at in vitro échocardiographie examination of hearts from FAP autopsy cases. Histological examination showed that the highly refractile echoes corresponded to more or less sharply delineated nodules, containing amyloid and collagen in various amounts. / digitalisering@umu

L'infarctus du myocarde est la première cause de mortalité cardiovasculaire dans les pays occidentaux. La reperfusion la plus précoce possible est actuellement le seul traitement validé pour réduire la taille d'infarctus, facteur pronostique fondamental de morbi-mortalité. Cependant, la reperfusion engendre des lésions d'ischémie-reperfusion (IR) irréversibles qui précipitent la mort par apoptose des cardiomyocytes. Une approche transcriptomique nous a permis d'identifier les gènes spécifiques du postconditionnement ischémique (PostC) dans le cœur de souris. Parmi ceux-ci, l'expression du gène codant pour le récepteur métabotrope de type 1 du glutamate (mGluR1) est augmentée par le PostC. L'objectif de mon travail de thèse a été d'étudier le rôle de mGluR1 au cours de l'IR myocardique. Notre stratégie, basée sur l'utilisation de souris knock-out, a permis de confirmer l'implication de mGluR1 dans la cardioprotection. L'injection de glutamate au moment de la reperfusion myocardique permet de diminuer significativement la taille de l'infarctus par inhibition de l'apoptose. Cet effet cardioprotecteur est diminué en présence de l'antagoniste spécifique YM 298198 ou en présence de wortmannin, inhibiteur de la PI3-kinase, activée dans la cascade de signalisation du récepteur. La réduction de la taille d'infarctus par le glutamate semble associée à une amélioration de la fonction contractile du ventricule gauche en échocardiographie (par speckle tracking, méthode de quantification de la déformation myocardique) dans un modèle murin d'IR myocardique. Ces résultats, bien que préliminaires, semblent prometteurs et nous permettent d'envisager une application clinique chez le patient coronarien. / Myocardial infarction is the major cause of cardiovascular mortality in western countries. Reperfusion as early as possible is the only treatment recognized to reduce infarct size, crucial prognostic factor of morbidity and mortality. However, reperfusion leads to ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury leading to irreversible apoptotic death of cardiomyocytes. A transcriptomic approach has allowed us to identify genes specifically regulated upon ischemic postconditioning (PostC) in the mouse heart. Among them, the expression of the metabotropic glutamate receptor type 1 (mGluR1) gene is up-regulated by PostC. The aim of my thesis work was to study the role of mGluR1 during myocardial IR. Our strategy, based on the use of knockout mice, confirmed the involvement of mGluR1 in cardioprotection. Injection of glutamate at the time of reperfusion significantly reduced infarct size via apoptosis inhibition. This cardioprotective effect was reduced in presence of the specific antagonist YM 298198 or in presence of wortmannin, an inhibitor of PI3-kinase, which is activated downstream mGluR1. In our mouse model of myocardial IR injury, decrease in infarct size after glutamate treatment seems to be associated to an improved left ventricular contractile function assessed by echocardiography (speckle tracking method quantifying myocardial strain). These preliminary results are promising and allow us to consider a clinical trial for coronary patients.

Heart disease is a major cause of death in western countries. In order to diagnose and monitor heart disease, 3D echocardiography is an important tool, as it provides a fast, relatively low-cost, portable and harmless way of imaging the moving heart. Segmentation of cardiac walls is an indispensable method of obtaining quantitative measures of heart function. However segmentation of ultrasound images has its challenges: image quality is often relatively low and current segmentation methods are often not fast. It is desirable to make the segmentation technique as fast as possible, making quantitative heart function measures available at the time of recording. In this thesis, we test two state-of-the-art fast segmentation techniques to address this issue; furthermore, we develop a novel technique for finding the best segmentation propagation strategy between points of time in a cardiac image sequence. The first fast method is Graph Cuts (GC), an energy minimisation technique that represents the image as a graph. We test this method on static 3D echocardiography to segment the myocardium, varying the importance of the regulariser function. We look at edge measures, position constraints and tissue characterisation and find that GC is relatively fast and accurate. The second fast method is Random Forests (RFos), a discriminative classifier using binary decision trees, used in machine learning. To our knowledge, we are the first to test this method for myocardial segmentation on 2D and 3D static echocardiography. We investigate the number of trees, image features used, some internal parameters, and compare with intensity thresholding. We conclude that RFos are very fast and more accurate than GC segmentation. The static RFo method is subsequently applied to all time frames. We describe a novel optical flow based propagation technique that improves the static results by propagating the results from well-performing time frames to less-performing frames. We describe a learning algorithm that learns for each frame which propagation strategy is best. Furthermore, we look at the influence of the number of images and of the training set available per tree, and we compare against other methods that use motion information. Finally, we perform the same propagation learning method on the static GC results, concluding that the propagation method improves the static results in this case as well. We compare the dynamic GC results with the dynamic RFo results and find that RFos are more accurate and faster than GC.

No description available.

A presente pesquisa avaliou as anomalias e/ou disfunções cardíacas através da determinação e comparação dos parâmetros ecocardiográficos e ecodopplercardiográficos do fluxo da valva pulmonar em bezerros da raça Nelore originados através de transferência nuclear de células somáticas adultas (TNCS) e concebidos por inseminação artificial ou monta natural durante os primeiros 30 dias de vida, com a finalidade de contribuir nos estudos na área de clonagem e no desenvolvimento da clínica de neonatos bovinos. O delineamento experimental envolveu a avaliação ecocardiográfica do coração e avaliação do fluxo da valva pulmonar através de ecocardiografia Doppler distribuídos nos seguintes intervalos: de 0 a 12 horas após o nascimento, de 12 a 24 horas após o nascimento, de 1 a 2 dias de vida, de 2 a 4 dias de vida, de 4 a 7 dias de vida, de 7 a 10 dias de vida, de 10 a 15 dias de vida, de 15 a 20 dias de vida e de 20 a 30 dias de vida. Os bezerros foram divididos em 2 grupos experimentais: 1- Grupo Controle composto por 10 bezerros obtidos por monta natural ou inseminação artificial e 2- Grupo Clones composto por 10 bezerros obtidos por meio de TNCS. Os parâmetros e índices ecocardiográficos foram: diâmetro interno do átrio esquerdo e direito em sístole, diâmetro interno de ventrículo direito em sístole e diástole, espessura do septo interventricular em sístole e diástole, diâmetro interno do ventrículo esquerdo em sístole e diástole, parede livre do ventrículo esquerdo em sístole e diástole, diâmetro da aorta em diástole, razão átrio esquerdo em sístole e aorta, tempo de ejeção do ventrículo esquerdo, separação septal do ponto E, encurtamento fracional, fração de ejeção, volumes sistólico, diastólico e de ejeção, débito cardíaco, razão septo interventricular em sístole pela parede livre do ventrículo esquerdo em sístole.A avaliação do fluxo da valva pulmonar foi feita através da mensuração da velocidade máxima, velocidade média, tempo de ejeção, tempo de aceleração, integral de velocidade, volume sistólico, débito cardíaco e frequência cardíaca. Dos 10 animais clonados, 3 morreram em até 48 horas de vida apresentando hipertrofia ventricular congênita concêntrica, comunicação interatrial por não oclusão do forame oval e hipertensão arterial pulmonar. Os clones vivos apresentaram fluxo colorido através de comunicação interatrial em até 10 dias de vida enquanto que os bezerros do grupo Controle apresentaram fluxo colorido em até 7 dias. O peso vivo dos animais apresentou alta correlação com o perímetro torácico. Os valores do ecocardiograma determinados para o grupo Controle não são indicados para serem usados como valores de referência para os clones, pois variam muito com o peso dos animais e os clones apresentam variação de peso acima do normal para a espécie. / The present research evaluated anomalies and/or cardiac dysfunctions through the determination and comparison of echocardiographic and echodopplercardiographic parameters of pulmonary valve flow on Nelore breed calves originated from the somatic cell nuclear transfer technique (SCNTT) and from form Nelore breed calves conceived trough artificial insemination or natural mating on its first 30 days of life, with the purpose of contributing on researches on the cloning technique field and on the bovine neonatal clinic development. The experimental design involved heart echocadiographic evaluation and the pulmanary valve echodopplercardiographic evaluation on the following intervals: 0 to 12 hours after birth, 12 to 24 hours after birth, 1 to 2 days old, 2 to 4 days old, 4 to 7 days old, 7 to 10 days old, 10 to 15 days old, 15 to 20 days old and 20 to 30 days old. Calves were allocated in two experimental groups: 1- Control Group composed of 10 calves conceived through artificial insemination and natural mating and 2- Clone Group composed of 10 calves originated from SCNTT. The echocardiographic parameters and indices were: systolic left and right atrium diameters, systolic and diastolic internal diameter, interventricle septum thickness during the systolic and diastolic movement, systolic and diastolic left ventricle internal diameter, left ventricle free wall during systolic and diastolic movement, diastolic aorta diameter, systolic left atrium and aortic root ratio, left ventricle ejection timing, E-point septal separation, fractional shortening, ejection fraction, systolic volume, diastolic volume, ejection volume, systolic interventricle septum and systolic left ventricle ratio. The pulmonary valve flow evaluation was performed through the measurement of the maximum velocity, the average velocity, ejection time, acceleration time, velocity integral, systolic volume, cardiac debit and cardiac frequency. 3 from 10 clones died up to 48 hours after birth, presented congenital concentric ventricle hipertrophy, interatrial communication due to non occlusive oval foramen and pulmonary artery hypertension. The living clones presented colored flow through the interatrial communication until 10 days old while animals from Control Group presented it until 7 days old. Animals´ body weight and thoracic perimeter showed high correlation. The echocardiographic values determined for Control Group are not supposed to be used as reference for clones, because body weight causes great variation on these values and clones present much bigger body weight than what is normal for the species.

O hamster sírio é utilizado como modelo experimental que permite explorar aspectos fisiopatológicos e avaliar a resposta terapêutica em diversas cardiopatias, algumas delas não tão bem reproduzidas em ratos. A avaliação cardiológica inclui a observação de aspectos fisiológicos e hemodinâmicos, assim como a utilização de exames complementares para análise estrutural e funcional cardíaca in vivo. Dentre esses exames destaca-se a ecocardiografia, que possibilita a avaliação da estrutura e função com elevada acurácia. Uma das formas de análise da função sistólica é por meio do cálculo da fração de ejeção do ventrículo esquerdo (FEVE), que leva em consideração os volumes estimados diastólico final e sistólico final do ventrículo esquerdo. Outro importante parâmetro de análise de função sistólica é a avaliação da deformação miocárdica. Os índices de deformação miocárdica podem ser obtidos utilizando o método de rastreamento de pontos. No entanto, até o presente momento, não existem dados a respeito de valores de referência a serem utilizados para a deformação miocárdica em hamsters. Diante disso, o presente estudo teve como objetivo definir a exequibilidade, os intervalos de referência e a variabilidade de parâmetros derivados da ecocardiografia convencional e da técnica de rastreamento de pontos em hamsters sírios adultos. Métodos: Foram incluídos no estudo 135 hamsters sírios fêmeas, anestesiados com ketamina/xilazina e submetidos à ecocardiografia em aparelho dedicado a pequenos animais, Vevo® 2100 utilizando transdutor linear de 30 MHz. Resultados: A exequibilidade da realização das medidas de ecocardiografia convencional foi superior a 93%. A análise da deformação endocárdica apresentou exequibilidade de 84% no eixo longo e, de 80% no eixo curto. A avaliação da deformação epicárdica nos eixos longo e curto apresentou baixa exequibilidade (42% e 62%, respectivamente). A FEVE pelo modo M, obtida no eixo longo, foi significativamente superior à obtida pelos métodos de área comprimento e de rastreamento de pontos (59,0±5,8; 53,8±4,7; 46,3±5,7; p<0,0001). Houve razoável correlação positiva da FEVE obtida pelos métodos de área comprimento e de rastreamento de pontos (r= +0,43; p<0,0001). A deformação longitudinal endocárdica global foi de -13,6(-7,5; -20,4)%, a deformação circunferencial endocárdica global foi de -20,5±3,1% e a deformação radial endocárdica global foi de +34,7±7,0%. A análise de regressão linear evidenciou influência da frequência cardíaca nos valores de deformação longitudinal e circunferencial, mas não da deformação radial (p=0,0003; p<0,0001 e p=0,83, respectivamente). Conclusões: Demonstrou-se que as medidas de ecocardiografia convencional e pelo método de rastreamento de pontos são exequíveis em hamsters. Foram definidos intervalos de referência para variáveis de ecocardiografia convencional e da deformação endocárdica global longitudinal, circunferencial e radial neste modelo experimental animal. / The Syrian hamster is an experimental model to study pathophysiology and to assess therapeutic response in several heart diseases, some of them not well reproduced in rats. The cardiologic evaluation includes observation of physiological and hemodynamic patterns, and complementary tests are used for in vivo cardiac structural and functional analysis. Among these, echocardiography allows the evaluation of structure and function with high accuracy. Analyzing systolic function can be done by calculating the left ventricular ejection fraction. Another important parameter of systolic function analysis is the assessment of the myocardial strain. Myocardial strain indices can be obtained using speckle tracking. However, there are no data regarding reference values for myocardial strain in hamsters. The present study aimed to determine feasibility, reference intervals and variability of parameters derived from conventional and speckle tracking echocardiography in adult Syrian hamsters. Methods: The study included 135 female Syrian hamsters anesthetized with ketamine/xylazine and submitted to a small animal dedicated echocardiography, Vevo® 2100 using a 30 MHz linear transducer. Results: The analysis of the endocardial strain presented a feasibility of 84% in the long axis and 80% in the short axis. The evaluation of the epicardial strain in the long and short axes presented low feasibility (42% and 62%, respectively). The M-mode left ventricular ejection fraction obtained on the long axis was significantly higher than that obtained by the area-length and Speckle tracking methods (59.0±5.8, 53.8±4.7, 46.3±5.7, p<0.0001). There was a reasonable positive correlation of left ventricular ejection fraction obtained by the area length method and the Speckle tracking method (r=+0.43; p<0.0001). The endocardial longitudinal strain was -13.6(-7.5;-20.4)%, the endocardial circumferential strain was -20.5±3.1% and the endocardial radial strain was +34,7±7.0%. Linear regression analysis showed influence of heart rate on the values of longitudinal and circumferential strain, but not on radial strain (p=0.0003, p<0.0001 and p=0.83, respectively). Conclusions: it has been shown that measurements of conventional echocardiography and speckle tracking are feasible in hamsters. Reference intervals for conventional echocardiographic variables and longitudinal, circumferential and radial global endocardial strain were obtained in this experimental animal model.

Les myopathies d’origine génétique sont des pathologies musculaires en rapport avec des anomalies génétiques. Les myopathies sont à l’origine d’un handicap physique majeur et affectent souvent la fonction respiratoire et parfois le cœur. Nous nous sommes intéressés à la caractérisation myocardique de 4 types de myopathies d’origine génétique à l’aide de l’échocardiographie Doppler : myopathie de Duchenne, sarcoglycanopathies, MELAS syndrome et maladie de Pompe.Nous avons analysé la fonction cardiaque dans 2 modèles murins de dystrophies musculaires: la souris mdx et la souris sgca null. En clinique, nous avons analysé la fonction cardiaque des sujets atteints de myopathie de Duchenne, de sarcoglycanopathies, de MELAS syndrome et de maladie de Pompe en échocardiographie Doppler.Dans les modèles animaux, nous avons retrouvé des anomalies myocardiques chez la souris mdx et chez la souris sgca null. Chez l’homme, l’atteinte myocardique est sévère chez les sujets atteints de myopathie de Duchenne et certains patients présentent un asynchronisme ventriculaire soulevant les indications éventuelles de resynchronisation myocardique. Les sujets atteints de gamma sarcoglycanopathies présentent de façon significative des anomalies de contraction du ventricule gauche comparativement aux sujets atteints d’alpha-sarcoglycanopathies. La fonction ventriculaire droite et gauche est préservée chez les sujets atteints de maladie de Pompe. Les sujets atteints de MELAS présentent des hypertrophies du ventricule gauche. L’analyse génétique retrouve une corrélation significative entre le taux d’hétéroplamie et la survenue d’événements cliniques. / Muscular dystrophies are genetic neuromuscular disorders that affect skeletal muscle. We sought to assess heat involvement in four genetic muscular disorders : Duchenne muscular dystrophy, sarcoglycanopathies, MELAS and adulte Pompe disease. In animal models, we sought to assess, using Echocardiography Doppler, mdx mice and sgca null mice. Myocardiac abnormalities were found in mdx mice and sgca null mice. Clinical studies found severe cardiac impairment in Duchenne muscular dystrophies and ventricular asynchrony was found in patients with severe heart failure. Patients with gamma sarcoglycanopathy have significant alteration of left ventricular function in comparison with patients with alpha sarcoglycanopathy. Left and right ventricular function were preserved in patients with Pompe disease. Left ventricular hypertrophy was found in patients with MELAS. Genetic analysis disclosed significant correlation between heteroplasmy and significant clinical events.

Orientador: Aparecido Antonio Camacho / Resumo: A cardiomiopatia arritmogênica do ventrículo direito (CAVD) é uma doença de origem genética, muito prevalente em cães da raça Boxer. Histologicamente ocorre atrofia dos cardiomiócitos do ventrículo direito (VD) e consequente infiltração fibroadiposa, levando ao aparecimento de arritmias ventriculares. Mesmo sendo as alterações miocárdicas microscópicas em sua maioria, estudos recentes têm identificado disfunção contrátil do ventrículo direito, mesmo em estágios iniciais da doença em humanos, tanto por técnicas convencionais de ecocardiografia quanto por técnicas mais avançadas, como no caso do speckle tracking. Por isso, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar se há disfunção miocárdica de VD detectável pela ecocardiografia convencional e pela técnica de speckle tracking bidimensional em cães da raça Boxer portadores da CAVD. Para tanto, utilizou-se cães da raça Boxer com idade superior a quatro anos, distribuídos em dois grupos de acordo com o resultado da avaliação Holter (GC: < 50 EVs/24h, n=11 e GD: > 100 EVs/24h, n=11). Os animais foram submetidos a ecocardiografia e avaliou-se diâmetro e comprimento interno do VD em sístole e diástole, encurtamento fracional da área do VD (FAC), excursão sistólica do plano anular da tricúspide (TAPSE), velocidade miocárdica sistólica do ânulo lateral da tricúspide derivada do Doppler tecidual (S’) e deformação (strain) e taxa de deformação (strain rate) longitudinal global da parede livre do VD, derivados da análise por speckle tracking. As... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a genetic disease with a high prevalence in Boxer dogs. Histologically, right ventricle (RV) cardiomyocytes’ atrophy occurs, and thus fibrofatty infiltration, triggering ventricular arrhythmias. Although the myocardial changes are mostly microscopic, recent studies in human beings have identified right ventricular systolic dysfunction even in the early stages of ARVC, both by conventional echocardiographic techniques and advanced methods, such as speckle tracking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate if RV myocardial dysfunction is present in Boxers affected by ARVC, evaluated by conventional echocardiography and bidimensional speckle tracking technique. For this purpose, Boxers older than four years were recruited, and based on 24-hour Holter recording were divided in groups: GC:< 50 VPC/24h (n=11), or GD: > 100 VPC/24h (n=11). The following echocardiographic parameters were analyzed: RV internal dimension during systole and diastole; RV fractional area change (FAC); tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE); myocardial systolic velocity of lateral tricuspid annulus (S’), and global longitudinal strain and strain rate. Groups were compared by Student’ t-test or Mann-Whitney test according distribution, and correlation between conventional and speckle tracking echocardiographic variables, as well as number and severity of the ventricular arrhythmias were accomplished by the Pearson test, assumin... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Resumo: Avaliar o sistema cardiorrespiratório e sua influência na capacidade funcional de exercício em gestantes com pré-eclâmpsia. Estudo transversal com 50 gestantes portadoras de pré-eclâmpsia e 50 gestantes normotensas, estimado pelo tamanho amostral. Foi realizado espirometria, dopplerecocardiografia e teste de caminhada de seis minutos. Na análise estatística foi usado o teste t e Mann-Whitney para as variáveis com distribuição simétrica e assimétrica, respectivamente, e regressão múltipla linear. As variáveis espirométricas mostraram redução significativa da capacidade vital forçada (L) [3,35 (2,95; 3,74) ν 3,62 (3,31; 3,88) p=0,012], do volume expirado forçado no primeiro segundo (L) [2,85 (2,58; 3,16) ν 3,06 (2,83; 3,27) p=0,034] e da capacidade vital lenta (L) [3,34 (2,87; 3,91) ν 3,65 (3,32; 4,07) p=0,039], no grupo pré-eclâmpsia comparado com o grupo controle, respectivamente. Os valores do diâmetro sistólico (cm) [2,90 (2,7; 3) ν 2,7(2,65; 2,9) p=0,048] e diastólico do ventrículo esquerdo (cm) [4,8 (4,7; 5) ν 4,7 (4,55; 4,8) p=0,016], índice de massa do ventrículo esquerdo (g/m2,7) [48,65 (45,27; 52,12) ν 34,34 (31,57; 38,05) p<0,001], espessura relativa da parede ventricular esquerda (cm) [0,40 (0,38; 0,45) ν 0,34 (0,34; 0,35) p<0,001], volume sistólico (mL) [62,4 (58,57; 67,66) ν 58,19 (55,24; 63,18) p=0,014], tempo de relaxamento isovolumétrico do ventrículo esquerdo (ms) [88 (80; 92) ν 80 (76;84) p<0,001], tempo de desaceleração da onda E (ms) [196 (192;208) ν 192 (188;196) p=0,002] e onda A (cm/s) [64 (54;75) ν 49 (54;54) p<0,001] foram estatisticamente maiores no grupo préeclâmpsia que no controle. Enquanto que a razão E/A foi significativamente menor no grupo pré-eclâmpsia [1,40 (1,21; 1,63) ν 1,72 (1,55; 1,94) p<0,001]. A distância percorrida (m) no teste de caminhada de seis minutos foi significativamente menor... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: To evaluate the cardio respiratory system and its influence on the functional exercise capacity of pregnant women with preeclampsia. Cross-sectional trial on 50 pregnant women with preeclampsia and 50 normotensive pregnant women, estimated by sample size. Spirometry, Doppler echocardiography and the six-minute walk test were performed. In statistical analysis, the t test and the Mann-Whitney test were respectively used for variables with symmetrical and asymmetrical distribution, in addition to multiple linear regression. Results: The spirometric variables showed significant reduction in forced vital capacity (L) 3.35 (2.95; 3.74) 3.62 (3.31; 3.88) p=0.012 , in forced expired volume in the first second (L) 2.85 (2.58; 3.16) 3.06 (2.83; 3.27) p=0.034 and in slow vital capacity (L) 3.34 (2.87; 3.91) 3.65 (3.32; 4.07) p=0.039 as compared to the control group, respectively. The values for systolic (cm) 2.90 (2.7; 3) 2.7(2.65; 2.9) p=0.048 and diastolic diameter of the left ventricle (cm) 4.8 (4.7; 5) 4.7 (4.55; 4.8) p=0.016 , mass index of the left ventricle (g/m2,7) 48.65 (45.27; 52.12) 34.34 (31.57; 38.05) p<0.001 , relative thickness of the left ventricular wall (cm) 0.40 (0.38; 0.45) 0.34 (0.34; 0.35) p<0.001 , systolic volume (mL) 62.4 (58.57; 67.66) 58.19 (55.24; 63.18) p=0.014 , isovolumetric relaxation time of the left ventricle (ms) 88 (80;92) 80 (76;84) p<0.001 , deceleration time of the E wave (ms) 196 (192;208) 192 (188;196) p=0.002 and the A wave (cm/s) 64 (54;75) 49 (54;54) p<0.001 were statistically larger in the preeclampsia group than in control while the E/A ratio was significantly smaller in the preeclampsia group 1.40 (1.21; 1.63) 1.72 (1.55; 1.94) p<0.001 . The distance walked (m) in the six-minute walk test was significantly smaller in the preeclampsia group (465± 61) than in the control group (534± 44) p<0.001. Linear multiple regression showed that, in the presence... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: José Carlos Peraçoli / Coorientador: Beatriz Bojikian Matsubara / Coorientador: Irma de Godoy / Banca: Victor Zuniga Dourado / Banca: Audrey Borghi e Silva / Banca: Vera Therezinha Medeiros Borges / Banca: Silméia Garcia Zanatti Bazan / Doutor