Influence of Preoperative Left Ventricular Contractile Reserve on Postoperative Ejection Fraction in Low-Gradient Aortic Stenosis

LVEF increases in the majority of patients with low-gradient AS who survive after AVR. Although the absence of contractile reserve on DSH is related to high operative mortality, it does not predict the absence of LVEF recovery in patients surviving to AVR. These data further support the concept that surgery should not be contraindicated on the basis of absence of contractile reserve alone.