Changes in left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction between rest and maximal supine exercise were evaluated in 11 patients who had had four epicardial markers placed during coronary artery surgery. After calibrating marker distances with respect to volume (r = 0.92-0.99) over one cardiac cycle for each patient, regression equations were used to compute LV volume from marker measureme...

Single plane cineangiography, either in the anteroposterior or in the right anterior oblique projection, can be used to determine left ventricular volumes. Volumes so obtained showed good agreement with those reported by others using biplane techniques. Ejection fraction and ejection rate derived from such volumes were normal in patients with mitral stenosis and with chronic compensated pressur...

OBJECTIVE To detect and characterise rapid temporal changes in the left ventricular response to exercise in patients with ischaemic heart disease and to relate these changes to the functional severity of coronary artery disease. BACKGROUND The gamma camera does not allow the detection of rapid changes in cardiac function during exercise radionuclide ventriculography, the monitoring of which m...

Exercise radionuclide angiography is being used to evaluate left ventricular function in patients with aortic regurgitation. Ejection fraction is the most common variable analyzed. To better understand the rest and exercise ejection fraction in this setting, 20 patients with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic severe aortic regurgitation were studied. All underwent simultaneous supine exercis...

BACKGROUND Echocardiographic estimation of left ventricular ejection fraction aids in predicting adverse outcomes in coronary artery disease. However, in patients with impaired left ventricular function, further risk stratification is difficult. METHODS A 2 year retrospective review was performed to identify patients with ejection fraction < or=30%. Echocardiographic measures of systolic and ...

AIMS To assess whether contractile reserve during dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) can predict left ventricular functional recovery in patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy and to assess myocardial fibrosis by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in these patients. METHODS Nine patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy were enrolled. All patients underwent DSE and were followed for six mo...