Left Ventricular Function during and After Warm-water Immersion at 40°C in Elderly Subjects / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

<B>Objective:</B> To assess LV function during and after warm-water immersion in elderly subjects. Concomitantly with aging, left ventricular (LV) diastolic function decreases. According to results of previous studies, warm-water immersion improves cardiac function in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, its effect in normal elderly is still unclear.<BR><B>Material and Methods:</B> To investigate the effect of acute warm-water immersion on LV function with Doppler echocardiography in elderly subjects, subjects underwent immersion in 40°C water to nipple level for 15 min.<BR><B>Results:</B> The stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) increased significantly during and after warm-water immersion. The ratio of early diastolic mitral inflow (E) and early diastolic mitral annular tissue velocity (E’), an index LV of filling pressure, did not increase during or after immersion. Some LV diastolic function indexes such as E increased during immersion, but after immersion indexes of diastolic function were not different relative to before immersion.<BR><B>Conclusion:</B> These results suggest that LV diastolic function did not correspond to the increased systolic function in elderly subjects, so it might suggest that the LV contraction-relaxation coupling may be interrupted in elderly.