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Question:
What is diastolic dysfunction and how serious is it?
My husband did a master health checkup and the result was normal. But there was a note as "Diastolic dysfunction". He is 34 years old now. Is this something serious and needs attention? If so, what should we do?
submitted by Suchitra from India on 8/24/2012
Answer:
by Texas Heart Institute cardiologist, Jorge A. Garcia-Gregory, MD 
Diastolic dysfunction means that during the time the heart is relaxing, the relaxation is not enough. This is usually because of high blood pressure or diastolic cardiomyopathy. It is important because of his age to find out why he has diastolic dysfunction. This can be determined by history (high blood pressure) or echocardiogram (cardiomyopathy or vascular heart disease like aortic stenosis - a different pressure between the heart and the aorta).
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Updated September 2012
