The pattern of wall-motion abnormalities and reversibility demonstrated in the majority of these patients with SLE suggests an etiology more consistent with stress cardiomyopathy rather than myocarditis.

Overall mean AVA did not differ between methods, suggesting that these three methods are equally accurate in a nonselected clinical patient group. However, in the presence of significant aortic regurgitation, the two echocardiographic methods appear more accurate. Our observation of an overestimation of the severity of aortic stenosis by TTE in the presence of moderate-to-severe mitral regurgitation indicates that this possibility should be accounted for in clinical decisions based on TTE determinations of AVA.

No abstract