Angiographic assessment of left ventricular function in patients with ischaemic heart disease without clinical heart failure.

Quantitative assessment of left ventricular function was performed by single plane cineangiography in I3 patients with ischaemic heart disease without clinical heart failure. As compared with normal controls, 7 of I3 patients had a reduced ejection fraction and 'normalized' ejection rate, suggesting impaired left ventricular function. These patients could not be differentiated clinically in any way from the remaining 6 patients who had a normal ejection fraction or ejection rate. There was also no correlation between the ejection fraction or ejection rate and the angiographically determined severity of the coronary artery disease. Though the number of patients studied was small, the ejection fraction and ejection rate were found to provide a good correlation with the postoperative andfollow-up results. All 3 patients who died, and another 3 patients who de- veloped heart failure, had a reduced ejection fraction and ejection rate. In contrast, of 7 patients who remain alive and well, all but one had normal or near normal ejection fraction and ejection rate. Unlike ejection fraction and ejection rate, there was no correlation between left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and postoperative or follow-up results.