To Örebro University

Introduction: Aging and food intake are known to result in significant hemodynamic changes that affects the cardiovascular system in different ways.

Left ventricular (LV) diastolic function reflect relaxation ability of the myocardium and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a cornerstone used in daily clinical practice for evaluation of this. By using TTE, vortex formation time (VFT) can be determined. This dimensionless index is used to quantify the process of vortex formation that occurs in early diastole. This index may lead to a better understanding of diastolic LV function and the filling efficiency of the LV.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess if VFT as a measurement of diastolic LV function is affected by food intake and related to age.

Material and Method: Two healthy populations were included in the study, one younger (median age 25 years) and one older (median age 68 years). TTE examinations were performed after fasting and 30 minutes after intake of a standardized meal consisting of 300 grams of rice pudding. Measurements of the TTE images were performed off-line for the calculation of VFT. Non-parametric statistics were used with a significance level of p<0.05.

Results: The result showed that there is a significant increase in VFT after food intake in the elderly study group (p<0.001). This was not registered in the younger study group (p=0.369). Furthermore, VFT was significantly higher in the younger study group compared to the older study group before food-intake (p=0.011), but not after food-intake (p=0.172).

Conclusion: In conclusion the result suggest that the present findings are difficult to implement in daily clinical practice but the influence of food intake may be considered in studies and that further studies are warranted according to the significance of VFT as a measure of diastolic left ventricular function.