Assessment of atrial electromechanical delay and echocardiographic parameters in patients with multiple sclerosis

Objective: Data on cardiovascular dysfunction is limited in the previous literature on patients with multiple sclerosis. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the cardiovascular parameters in multiple sclerosis patients by comparing the systolic-diastolic functions and atrial electro-mechanical delay compared to the control group. Method: A total of 37 patients with a diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and had Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores between 0 – 3, and 20 individuals in the control group were included in the study. Seventeen of the MS patients (n=17) were taking immunomodulatory drugs and the other 20 did not receive any immunomodulatory agents. Patients with a diagnosis or clinical suspicion of cardiac dysfunction and using cardiotoxic medications were excluded. The measurement of systolic and diastolic function parameters was performed via M – Mode 2D transthoracic echocardiography, and Atrial electro-mechanical delay (AEMD) measurements were performed with tissue Doppler. Results: E’ MV lateral and MV E/A values were determined to be higher in MS patients, who did not use immunomodulatory drugs, compared to the control group (p<0.001, p=0.010 respectively). E/E’ MV lateral and MV AVmax values were determined to be significantly higher in the patient group using immunomodulators compared to the other two groups (p=0.009, p=0.012 respectively). PAs, PAI, left and right intraatrial EMG values were determined to be prolonged in MS patients using and not using drugs compared to the control group, but these values were not determined to be statistically significant. Conclusion: We found that left ventricular diastolic function was impaired in MS patients compared to the control group, and right-left intra- and interatrial AEMD were similar. Based on these results, we recommend echocardiographic assessment for early detection of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in MS patients.