BACKGROUND:

Heart failure affects to 26 million people worldwide. The variation of the blood pressure and heart rate values after performing the Valsalva maneuver has been evaluated, finding a correlation between left ventricular function and natriuretic atrial peptide.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine if post- and pre-Valsalva pulse pressure gradient is useful as marker of left ventricle systolic dysfunction.

MATERIAL AND METHOD:

A cohort study was done from January 1st to June 30, 2017, determining left ventricular ejection fraction, cerebral natriuretic peptide, as well as the subtraction of post-Valsalva and pre-Valsalva pulse pressure, this variable was determined as pulse pressure gradient.

RESULTS:

There were included 32 patients. A gradient figure of less than 4.22 had a negative correlation with a left ventricular ejection fraction lesser than 50%, with a correlation coefficient of -0.562 and a p value of 0.001, in addition to having an area under the curve of 0.71.

CONCLUSIONS:

The gradient and the ejection fraction had a negative correlation, this in the indeterminate area of the systolic function. An LVEF lesser than 50% implies risk of decompensation and a depressed LVEF.