Nongeometric determination of left ventricular volumes from equilibrium blood pool scans

This study assesses the utility of a scintigraphic, nongeometric technique for the determination of left ventricular volumes. Accordingly, gated blood pool scintigraphy and cineangiography were performed within a 24 hour period in 22 patients. Scintigraphic volume measurements were calculated from individual frames of a modified 35 ° left anterior oblique projection using an algorithm designed to consider (1) the background-corrected left ventricular activity normalized for activity per milliliter of peripheral venous blood; (2) total study time; (3) number of frames acquired per cardiac cycle; and (4) percent of the cardiac cycle acquired. Angiographic volumes were calculated by the area-length method and the Kennedy regression equation. There was an excellent correlation between scintigraphic and angiographic methods for all volume measurements grouped together (r = 0.985, standard error of the estimate [SEE] = 14.6 ml) as well as for segregated end-diastolic volumes (r = 0.985, SEE = 16.2 ml) and end-systolic volumes (r = 0.988, SEE = 14.7 ml). Prospective testing of the independent ability of scintigraphy to estimate ventricular volumes was provided for by studying an additional 13 patients, and good agreement was found between scintigraphic and angiographic determinations of left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes. Thus, radio nuclide techniques, which are independent of geometric assumptions, may be utilized for the quantitation of left ventricular volumes.     

Prognostic value of submaximal exercise radionuclide ventriculography after myocardial infarction

Submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography (RVG) was performed in 117 patients before hospital discharge 17 +/- 7 days (+/- standard deviation) after an acute myocardial infarction (MI). The hypothesis tested in these studies was that submaximal exercise testing coupled to RVG allows the identification of patients at risk for future ischemic events in the subsequent 6 months, irrespective of MI location and type. The sites of MI were characterized as anterior transmural in 33, inferior transmural in 39, limited nontransmural in 18, extensive nontransmural in 24 and indeterminant in 3. During 6 months of follow-up, 9 patients died, 14 had recurrent MI, 18 had refractory angina pectoris, 16 had limiting angina and 17 had congestive heart failure. Discriminant function analysis ranked exercise changes in left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction and end-systolic volume the most important of all clinical, exercise and scintigraphic variables for predicting future cardiac events. The predictive accuracy of changes in LV ejection fraction and end-systolic volume were 93 and 91%, respectively, for the entire group, and were significantly more sensitive than any degree of ST-segment depression or elevation (p less than 0.001). These findings were generally independent of MI location and type. Thus, submaximal exercise RVG after MI is an accurate means of identifying patients at risk for major cardiac events in the 6 months after hospital discharge.     

Effect of selective coronary arteriography on left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction in man

This study was performed to assess the influence of selective coronary arteriography on left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction in man. In 30 patients with assorted cardiac diseases, left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes and ejection fraction were quantitated immediately before and after selective coronary arteriography. In 19 patients (Group A), contrast left ventriculography was performed immediately before and after selective coronary arteriography. In the remaining 11 patients (Group B), multigated equilibrium blood pool imaging was performed just before and after coronary arteriography. In both groups, mean systemic arterial pressure and heart rate did not change from just before the first to immediately before the second assessment of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction, but left ventricular end-diastolic pressure increased. End-diastolic and end-systolic volume indexes, and ejection fraction did not change from just before to immediately after selective coronary arteriography. Therefore, selective coronary arteriography (1) consistently causes an increase in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure but (2) exerts no effect on left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction, even in patients with severely compromised left ventricular function.     

Effect of chronic oral digoxin therapy on ventricular function at rest and peak exercise in patients with ischemic heart disease: Assessment with equilibrium gated blood pool imaging

The effect of chronic digoxin therapy on left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular volumes and cardiac output was assessed using multigated blood pool imaging both at rest and during supine exercise in 14 patients with known ischemic heart disease. Digoxin had no significant effect on ejection fraction at rest or at peak exercise. Neither exercise nor digoxin therapy had a significant influence on stroke volume index. Cardiac index was also not significantly influenced by digoxin either at rest (3.1 ± 1.15 without digoxin versus 2.9 ± 1.03 liters/min per m² during digoxin therapy) or at peak exercise (5.1 ± 2.08 versus 5.1 ± 2.04 liters/min per m², respectively), although the increase in heart rate resulted in a significant increase in cardiac index with exercise in each state (p <0.01).End-diastolic and end-systolic volume indexes both tended to be smaller at rest after digoxin therapy than before, but this difference was not significant. In the eight patients with an ejection fraction at rest of less than 0.50 (range 0.15 to 0.47), both end-diastolic and end-systolic volume indexes increased significantly with exercise (p <0.05) irrespective of therapy with digoxin. Conversely, in the six patients with a well preserved (greater than 0.50) ejection fraction at rest, digoxin prevented the exerciseinduced increase in end-diastolic and end-systolic volume indexes, and at peak exercise end-systolic volume index was significantly smaller during digoxin therapy than before it (p <0.05).It is concluded that chronic digoxin therapy in patients with stable ischemic heart disease (1) does not have a significant deleterious functional effect on the nonfailing heart, and (2) does not result in a significant change in left ventricular function at rest, but that it (3) does provide improved ventricular function at peak exercise in patients with well preserved left ventricular function at rest.     

Value of radionuclide ventriculography in the immediate characterization of patients with acute myocardial infarction

The ability of admission radionuclide ventriculography to discriminate among various clinical subsets was evaluated in patients with acute myocardial infarction. One hundred patients with acute myocardial infarction were evaluated within 8 ± 3.1 hours (mean ± standard deviation) after the onset of chest pain. Forty-one patients were in Killip functional class I, 52 in class II and 7 in class III. The mean radionuclide left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower in patients with higher Killip classification because of significant elevation of mean left ventricular end-systolic volume rather than significantly altered mean end-diastolic volume. Killip classification frequently failed to correlate with ejection fraction in individual cases. Admission chest X-ray findings were categorized according to the presence of findings suggestive of impaired left ventricular function. Mean left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower in patients with abnormal than in patients with normal chest X-ray findings because of significant elevations in both mean end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes. The chest X-ray findings frequently failed to correlate with ejection fraction in individual cases.Stepwise linear regression analysis was employed to analyze the ability of historical, physical, electrocardiographic and chest X-ray findings to predict radionuclide left ventricular ejection fraction. The most predictive variables in order of decreasing significance were anterior myocardial infarction, abnormal chest X-ray findings, rales to two thirds of the posterior thorax, previous myocardial infarction, transmural myocardial infarction and heart rate greater than 100 beats/min. However, even these six optimal predictive variables could explain only 42 percent of the observed variability in left ventricular ejection fraction. Thus, early radionuclide ventriculography adds significantly to the discriminant power of clinical and radiographic characterization of ventricular function in patients with acute myocardial infarction.     

Nongeometric determination of right ventricular volumes from equilibrium blood pool scans

It has previously been shown that left ventricular volumes can be measured accurately from radionuclide gated blood pool scintigrams by quantttating the background-corrected and volume-normalized ventricular activity at end-diastole and end-systole. To determine if this same technique can be applied to the calculation of right ventricular volumes, simultaneous measurements of right ventricular stroke volume were performed using gated scintigraphy and the thermodilution technique in 60 patients without clinical or hemodynamic evidence of right-sided regurgitation. Three techniques for the acquisition of the radionuclide studies were evaluated. The best correlation between scintigraphic and thermodilution determinations of stroke volume was obtained for studies acquired with a 25 ° rotating slant hole collimator positioned in a 10 to 15 ° left anterior oblique projection with the collimator slant directed toward the cardiac apex along the axis of the interventricular septum: Thermodilution stroke volume = 4.2 (scintigraphic stroke volume) + 10.3 ml (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.88; standard error of the estimate = 9.3 ml; probability [p] < 0.0001). This scintigraphic acquisition technique was superior to (1) a straight bore collimator positioned in a septal projection (30 to 50 ° left anterior oblique with 15 ° caudal tilt), and (2) a 25 ° slant hole collimator positioned in a similar septal projection with the collimator slant directed caudally. This method was evaluated prospectively in an additional 14 patients, and there was excellent agreement between stroke volumes obtained with thermodilution and scintigraphic methods (r = 0.96, p < 0.001). In addition, measurements of right ventricular ejection fraction by the equilibrium method agreed closely with those obtained with a gated first pass technique (r = 0.94, p < 0.001, n = 14). With use of the scintigraphic right ventricular ejection fraction and the relation between scintigraphic and thermodilution measurements of right ventricular stroke volume, right ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes can be estimated. Thus, nongeometric radionuclide techniques may be used for the quantitation of right ventricular volumes.     

Alterations in left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction at rest and during exercise in patients with aortic regurgitation

This study was performed (1) to determine the changes in left ventricular volumes during exercise in patients with aortic regurgitation, and (2) to evaluate the importance of these alterations in characterizing left ventricular function in these patients. In 15 normal subjects (Group I) and in 17 patients with aortic regurgitation (Group II), left ventricular end-diastolic volume index, end-systolic volume index, ejection fraction and the ratio of peak systolic blood pressure to end-systolic volume index were measured at rest and during supine exercise. The patients with aortic regurgitation were classified into two groups on the basis of symptoms and chest radiographs: Group IIA, minimal or no symptoms, no cardiomegaly or pulmonary venous congestion; Group IIB, definite symptoms, with cardiomegaly and pulmonary venous congestion. Patients with aortic regurgitation had greater left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volume indexes at rest and during exercise (p <0.05) than did normal subjects. During exercise, left ventricular end-diastolic volume index increased in normal subjects (53 ± 13 ml/m² [mean ± standard deviation] at rest, 67 ± 18 ml/m² during exercise, p <0.01), demonstrated a heterogeneous response in patients in Group IIA and increased in patients in Group IIB (180 ± 96 ml/m² at rest, 209 ± 102 ml/m² during exercise, p <0.05). During exercise, left ventricular end-systolic volume index decreased in normal subjects (18 ± 5 ml/m² at rest, $\text{15}\text{\$}\text{?}\text{6}$ ml/m² with exercise, p <0.01), increased in patients in Group IIB (82 ± 60 ml/m² at rest, 118 ± 93 ml/m² during exercise, p <0.05), and showed a variable response in those in Group IIA. At rest, left ventricular ejection fraction was similar in the three groups, but during exercise it increased in Group I (0.71 ± 0.07 at rest, 0.82 ± 0.07 with exercise, p <0.001), was unchanged in Group IIA and decreased in Group IIB (0.59 ± 0.15 at rest, 0.50 ± 0.16 during exercise, p <0.05). During exercise, there was an inverse relation between changes in left ventricular ejection fraction and endsystolic volume, but no relation between changes in end-diastolic volume and ejection fraction. Changes in the systolic pressure-volume ratio provided no more information than changes in end-systolic volume alone. Thus, abnormal alterations in left ventricular volumes occur during exercise in patients with aortic regurgitation and may be helpful in the further characterization of left ventricular performance in these patients.     

Influence of dobutamine on hemodynamics and coronary blood flow in patients with and without coronary artery disease

The influence of dobutamine on hemodynamics and coronary blood flow was studied in patients after routine cardiac catheterization. The data demonstrated that dobutamine is a powerful inotropic agent at a dose that has a relatively small influence on heart rate. In patients without coronary artery disease dobutamine greatly increased coronary arterial perfusion. In patients with severe coronary artery disease dobutamine resulted in a much smaller increase in coronary perfusion, and the pattern of perfusion became more Inhomogeneous. The results suggest that dobutamine has a potential inotropic value but raise concern about its influence on regional myocardial perfusion in patients with serious coronary artery disease.     

Assessment of vasodilator therapy in patients with severe congestive heart failure: limitations of measurements of left ventricular ejection fraction and volumes

Although noninvasive techniques are often used to assess the effect of vasodilator therapy in patients with congestive heart failure, it is unknown whether changes in noninvasively determined left ventricular ejection fraction, volume, or dimension reliably reflect alterations in intracardiac pressure and flow. Accordingly, we compared the acute effect of sodium nitroprusside on left ventricular volume and ejection fraction (determined scintigraphically) with its effect on intracardiac pressure and forward cardiac index (determined by thermodilution) in 12 patients with severe, chronic congestive heart failure and a markedly dilated left ventricle. Nitroprusside (infused at 1.3 +/- 1.1 [mean +/- standard deviation] microgram/kg/min) caused a decrease in mean systemic arterial, mean pulmonary arterial, and mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure as well as a concomitant increase in forward cardiac index. Simultaneously, left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volume indexes decreased, but the scintigraphically determined cardiac index did not change significantly. Left ventricular ejection fraction averaged 0.19 +/- 0.05 before nitroprusside administration and increased by less than 0.05 units in response to nitroprusside in 11 of 12 patients. The only significant correlation between scintigraphically and invasively determined variables was that between the percent change in end-diastolic volume index and the percent change in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (r = 0.68, p = 0.01). Although nitroprusside produced changes in scintigraphically determined left ventricular ejection fraction, end-systolic volume index, and cardiac index, these alterations bore no predictable relation to changes in intracardiac pressure, forward cardiac index, or vascular resistance. Furthermore, nitroprusside produced a considerably greater percent change in the invasively measured variables than in the scintigraphically determined ones.     

Direct measurement of cardiac output by gated equilibrium blood pool scintigraphy: Validation of scintigraphic volume measurements by a nongeometric technique

A nongeometric technique for the determination of left ventricular volumes from the count data derived from gated equilibrium blood pool scans was previously described and validated by the demonstration of an excellent correlation between the derived data and angiographically determined left ventricular volumes. To provide a further prospective evaluation of this method and to validate its ability to determine stroke volume and cardiac output by a technique that is itself independent of geometric assumptions, simultaneous measurements of cardiac output by the thermodilution technique and gated scintigraphy were performed in 21 patients without valve regurgitation or intracardiac shunts. To substantiate the reliability of scintigraphic measurements at high levels of cardiac output, seven patients had multiple measurements of cardiac output at rest and during an infusion of isoproterenol. There was an excellent correlation between thermodilution and scintigraphic values for cardiac output (scan cardiac output = 0.99 thermodilution cardiac output ? 0.005 liters/min; n = 31, standard error of the estimate [SEE]= 0.175 liters/min, r = 0.97) as well as between thermodilution and scintigraphic stroke volumes (scan stroke volume = 1.03 thermodilution stroke volume ? 2.8 ml; n = 31, SEE = 2.5 ml, r = 0.95). In addition, the relation between scintigraphic and angiographic measurements of left ventricular volumes continued to be excellent: In 15 patients with technically adequate angiograms, scintigraphic left ventricular volume = 0.90 angiographic left ventricular volume + 7 ml (n = 30, SEE = 10 ml, r = 0.91). Thus, this study further validates the nongeometric method of measuring left ventricular volumes with gated scintigraphy and demonstrates its ability to measure left ventricular stroke volume and cardiac output reliably.     

Left ventricular volumes by single-plane cineangiography: in vivo validation of the Kennedy regression equation

This study was performed to assess the accuracy and reliability of the regression equations of Kennedy et al and Wynne et al in the quantitation of single plane left ventricular (LV) volumes. In 15 patients with normal LV function and without intracardiac shunting or valvular insufficiency, gated equilibrium blood pool scintigraphy was performed simultaneously with the measurement of cardiac output (by thermodilution), after which left ventriculography was performed in the 30 degrees right anterior oblique (RAO) projection. From the scintigraphically determined LV ejection fraction (EF) and the thermodilution-measured stroke volume (SV), absolute LV volumes were calculated. The cineangiographic LV volumes obtained with the regression equation of Kennedy et al closely approximated those calculated by scintigraphy/thermodilution, whereas the volumes determined using the regression equation of Wynne et al were larger (p less than 0.05) than the calculated volumes. In 204 patients without intracardiac shunting or valvular insufficiency, SV was measured by the Fick or indicator dilution methods, after which single-plane left ventriculography was performed in the 30 degrees RAO projection. In the 83 patients without coronary artery disease with normal (n = 69) or depressed (n = 14) LVEF, cineangiographic SV (obtained using the regression equation of Kennedy et al) closely approximated forward SV. Similarly, this relation was excellent in the 142 patients whose LVEFs were greater than or equal to 0.50.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Left ventricular functional alterations at rest and during submaximal exercise in patients with recent myocardial infarction

Submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography was performed in 117 patients prior to hospital discharge 16.7 ± 6.7 days (SD) following acute myocardial infarction. The hypothesis tested in this study was that patients with different locations and types of infarction have different functional responses to submaximal exercise prior to discharge. The distribution of the myocardial infarctions were anterior transmural in 33, Inferior transmural in 39, anterior nontransmural in 23, inferior nontransmural in 19, and indeterminant in three. Patients with transmural infarction generally had significantly larger resting left ventricular volumes at enddiastole and end-systole and lower ejection fractions and systolic blood pressure/end-systolic volume Indexes than patients with nontransmural infarctions (p < 0.05). During submaximal exercise, the change in end-systolic volume was significantly different in these two groups. When patients were separated further into anterior and inferior transmural subgroups, the patients with anterior transmural infarction had significantly lower left ventricular ejection fractions and higher right ventricular ejection fractions than the group with inferior transmural Infarction (p < 0.05). In response to exercise, the group with anterior transmural infarction had a significant decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction and a blunted systolic blood pressure/left ventricular end-systolic volume index, in comparison to patients with inferior myocardial infarction (p < 0.05); this was the only group to have a significant increase in end-systolic volume. The group variance for the parameters studied was large, particularly during exercise when the individual responses were frequently directionally opposite from the group means. The group with anterior transmural infarction was the most homogenous, with 26 of 33 having a directionally abnormal response to submaximal exercise. It was concluded that the group with anterior transmural infarction generally displayed the most abnormal left ventricular function. However, despite significant group differences in resting ventricular function with different infarcts, the intragroup variability at rest and in response to exercise was too great to permit an accurate prediction of the subject's resting ventricular performance or to permit a prediction of exercise response based solely on location of the infarct.     

Effect of verapamil and nifedipine on left ventricular function at rest and during exercise in patients with Prinzmetal''s variant angina pectoris

To assess the effects of verapamil and nifedipine on left ventricular function at rest and during exercise in patients with Prinzmetal's variant angina pectoris, 10 patients (6 men and 4 women with a mean age of 52 years) with variant angina were each treated for 2 month periods with placebo, verapamil (400 ± 80 mg/day, mean ± standard deviation [SD]) and nifedipine (82 ± 31 mg/day). During the final week of each 2 month treatment period equilibrium gated blood pool scintigraphy was performed at rest and during exercise. At rest, heart rate during verapamil therapy was lower than during treatment with nifedipine; systolic blood pressure and left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction were similar for the three interventions. The maximal work load achieved was similar during placebo, verapamil and nifedipine therapy. At the maximal work load common to all three exercise studies, heart rate and systolic blood pressure were lower with verapamil than with placebo and nifedipine; ventricular volumes and ejection fraction were similar with the three agents. Thus, in patients with variant angina and a wide range of left ventricular function at rest, neither verapamil nor nifedipine significantly alters left ventricular volumes or ejection fraction at rest or during exercise.     

Determination of left ventricular mass by single-photon emission computed tomography with thallium-201

To test the hypothesis that single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) might permit accurate, noninvasive measurement of LV mass, SPECT measurements of LV mass to LV weight were compared in 20 mongrel dogs. Projection images of the left ventricle were acquired after intravenous injection of thallium-201 (TI-201). Transverse sections were reconstructed using filtered backprojection. Coronal sections were extracted from the reconstructed volume. The boundary of LV uptake of TI-201 in each coronal section was defined automatically using a threshold detector. Scintigraphic LV mass [total number of volume elements (voxels) showing TI-201 uptake X voxel volume X specific gravity of myocardium] was compared to actual LV weight. There was good correlation between scintigraphic LV mass and LV weight. Mean LV weight was 68 +/- 20 g (+/- standard deviation) (range 27 to 94). Mean SPECT LV mass was 66 +/- 19 g (range 28 to 100). Linear regression analysis yielded the following relation: SPECT LV mass = 0.87 X LV weight + 6.79 (r = 0.91, root-mean-square deviation from regression = 7.5). SPECT measurements were reproducible, with a coefficient of variation of 0.24%. Thus, SPECT of LV TI-201 distribution can be used to measure LV mass in canine myocardium.     

Prognostic value of resting and submaximal exercise radionuclide ventriculography after acute myocardial infarction in high-risk patients with single and multivessel disease

In patients who survive the acute phase of myocardial infarction, those with multivessel coronary artery disease generally have a worse prognosis than those with single-vessel disease. However, some patients with significant multivessel stenoses have a good prognosis, whereas some with a significant single-vessel stenosis have a poor prognosis. Thus, although definition of coronary anatomy may be helpful, it is a not a fail-safe prognosticator. In this retrospective analysis, the association of abnormalities at rest and during submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography after acute myocardial infarction with major cardiac complications (death, recurrent infarction, severe angina or congestive heart failure) in the ensuing 6 months was assessed in patients with single and multivessel disease. Coronary angiography and submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography were performed within 3 months of each other in 42 patients. Eleven of the 16 patients with single-vessel coronary stenosis had major cardiac complications. The subsequent course of these 16 patients was correctly predicted by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 0.40 in 8 patients, by LVEF < 0.55 in 7 patients, by failure of LVEF to increase by 0.05 units in 13 patients, and by an increase in left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) during exercise >5% above baseline in 11 patients. Of the 26 patients with multivessel coronary artery disease, 24 had major cardiac complications. The subsequent course of these 26 patients was correctly predicted in 13 by LVEF ≤ 0.40, in 20 by LVEF < 0.55, in 25 by a failure of LVEF to increase by 0.05 units during exercise, and in 20 by an increase in LVESVI by > 5% during exercise. Thus, submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography may provide valuable prognostic information concerning the occurrence of major cardiac events after myocardial infarction not only in patients with multivessel disease, but also in those with single-vessel disease. Exercise-induced abnormalities of left ventricular function may have greater prognostic importance than the delineation of coronary arterial anatomy or the assessment of residual left ventricular function at rest.     

Measurement of myocardial infarct size by technetium pyrophosphate single-photon tomography

The primary determinant of prognosis after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the size of the acute infarct. The present study evaluates 46 patients with different infarct distributions and sizes to test the hypothesis that single photon emission computed tomography with technetium-99m pyrophosphate (Tc-99m-PPi) and blood pool overlay allows measurements of AMI size that provide insight into prognosis irrespective of infarct location. Identical Tc-99m-PPi and ungated blood pool projections were acquired over 180 degrees with a rotating gamma camera. Reconstructed sections were color-coded and superimposed for purposes of infarct localization. Areas of increased pyrophosphate uptake within myocardial infarcts were thresholded at 65% of peak activity. The blood pool was thresholded at 50% and subtracted so as to determine an endocardial border for the left ventricle. Using this method, myocardial infarcts weighed 2.5 to 81.2 g. The correlation of infarct mass with prognosis showed that patients without previous AMI and with acute infarcts that weighed more than 40 g had an increased frequency of death and congestive heart failure (p less than 0.001). The correlation of measured infarct mass with peak serum creatine kinase level was significant (r = 0.83, p less than 0.001; y = 0.015x + 13.20). The correlation coefficients for anterior, inferior and nontransmural AMI were not significantly different from those for the entire group. In conclusion, tomographically determined infarct mass data correlate with subsequent clinical prognosis, and Tc-99m-PPi tomography with blood pool overlay is a safe and effective means of sizing infarcts in patients with AMI.     

Early detection of left ventricular dysfunction in chronic aortic regurgitation as assessed by contrast angiography, echocardiography, and rest and exercise scintigraphy

The best method for detecting early left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in patients with chronic aortic regurgitation is uncertain. Variables used previously to identify LV dysfunction have included (1) angiographic measurements to identify an LV end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) ≥60 ml/m², (2) echocardiographic measurements to identify LV end-systolic dimension (LVESD) ≥5.5 cm or LV fractional shortening ≤25%, and (3) depressed LV ejection fraction (EF) at rest and/or an LVEF or LVESVI that deteriorates with exercise as detected by myocardial scintigraphic measurements. The hypothesis was tested that radionuclide ventriculography with exercise allows earlier detection of important LV dysfunction in patients with aortic regurgitation than the other variables. In 15 consecutive asymptomatic or only minimally symptomatic patients (8 men and 7 women, mean age 44 years) with isolated 2 to 4+ aortic regurgitation (1) rest and exercise-gated radionuclide ventriculography, (2) M-mode echocardiography, and (3) LV angiography were performed. No other cause of LV dysfunction was apparent in 13 patients; 1 patient had moderate systemic arterial hypertension and 1 had 50% luminal diameter narrowing of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. Ten patients did not have an increase in LVEF >0.05 EF units at peak exercise (0.58 ± 0.11 to 0.50 ± 0.12, mean ± standard deviation [SD]) (Group 2), whereas 5 had a normal LVEF response to exercise (0.63 ± 0.08 to 0.69 ± 0.07) (Group 1). Eight of the 10 patients with abnormal LVEF responses to exercise had a decrease in LVEF >10% during exercise. The same 8 patients also had an increase in LVESVI with exercise, whereas the 5 patients with normal LVEF responses to exercise had normal or blunted LVESVI responses to exercise. Only 4 of the 10 patients with exercise-induced LV dysfunction had an angiographic LVESVI ≥60 ml/m², and only 1 had an echocardiographically determined LVESD ≥5.5 cm. Serial follow-up rest and exercise scintigraphic and echocardiographic measurements were made in 8 of the patients a mean of 9.4 months after the initial measurements; 3 patients were in Group 1 and 5 in Group 2. The 5 patients in Group 2 again demonstated abnormal LV function during exercise stress, and 2 of the 3 patients in Group 1 then demonstrated an abnormal LV functional response during exercise.Therefore, it is concluded that (1) exercise radionuclide ventriculography identifies LV dysfunction earlier than traditionally used assessments, (2) LV dysfunction appears to persist in patients that demonstrate it and develop in others that did not have it originally, and (3) echocardiographic dilatation of the LVESD to 5.5 cm appears to be a late and relatively unusual occurrence.     

Clinicopathologic correlates of acute ischemic heart disease syndromes

To better define the relations among acute and chronic coronary arterial lesions and different syndromes of acute ischemic heart disease, the clinicopathologic findings in 100 recent myocardial infarcts in 83 patients were reviewed and the results correlated with those of previous studies. Severe atherosclerosis (greater than 75 percent narrowing of luminal cross-sectional area) involved three or more major coronary arteries in 65 percent; two arteries in 16 percent, one artery in 15 percent, and no arteries in 4 percent of cases. The incidence rate of recent occlusive coronary arterial lesions was 61 percent, including 50 (90.2 percent) of 55 grossly apparent transmural infarcts, 9 (34.6 percent) of 26 grossly evident subendocardial infarcts and 2 (10.5 percent) of 19 multifocal microinfarcts associated with clinical episodes of acute coronary insufficiency (p <0.001). The 61 recent occlusive lesions consisted of two thromboemboli, two isolated plaque hemorrhages and 57 in situ thrombi that were associated with a high incidence rate of plaque erosion, rupture and hemorrhage. Clinical conditions predisposing to reduced coronary perfusion were identified before the onset of 26.2 percent of infarcts with recent occlusions and 61.5 percent of infarcts without recent occlusions (p <0.001). Clinical onset of infarction was followed by severe cardiac pump failure or congestive heart failure in 63.9 percent of infarcts with and 41.0 percent of infarcts without recent occlusions (p = 0.04).From this and previous studies, it is concluded that (1) acute ischemic heart disease does not have a constant relation with the severity of chronic atherosclerosis; (2) myocardial necrosis commonly occurs in the absence of acute permanent coronary occlusion, but in this setting is usually limited to subendocardial involvement of variable extent; (3) acute coronary thrombosis frequently acts as a major factor in determining the extent and distribution of an evolving infarct, as indicated by the large incidence of occlusive coronary thrombi with regional transmural infarcts; and (4) coronary thrombus formation is not dependent on a generalized impairment of coronary perfusion, either before or after the onset of infarction.