Stress-echocardiography in evaluation of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

Abstract

It is well known that symptom severity, exercise capacity and prognosis in patients with heart failure correlate poorly with resting systolic function. Baseline left ventricular performance does not always reflect the true severity of the disease. Despite this, in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), stress-echocardiography is far less frequently used than in patients with coronary artery disease, although it may provide important information for optimising patient management and assessing prognosis.