Assessment of left ventricular function following coronary bypass surgery: a non-invasive study.

Assessment of left ventriculr function following coronary bypass surgery: a non-invasive study. In a series of 15 patients with ischaemic heart disease, systolic time intervals (STI) were measured before, and at one week, three months, and six months following coronary vein-graft surgery. Preoperatively, the left ventricular ejection time (LVET) was abnormally short in seven patients, while the pre-ejection period was abnormally long in seven patients, suggesting impaired left ventricular function. At one week after surgery LVET and total electromechanical systole (QA2) were significantly abbreviated. This may be explained by the transient fall in cardiac output or postoperative neurohumoral changes. For the group as a whole, no significant changes were found at three or six months, suggesting that cardiac function was generally preserved rather than improved. However, in individual patients changes in STI correlated with the clinical and angiographic estimate of success of the operative treatment. While the relief of angina is achieved in the majority of patients with ischaemic heart disease who are subjected to myocardial revascularization the effects on cardiac function are less certain. (STI) are a relevant and informative measure of left ventricular (LV) function. Being non-invasive and easily derived, these methods open the possibility of serial measurements over extended periods of time in a large number of patients. This further avoids the risk associated with repeated cardiac catheterizations and angiography. We have followed a series of 15 patients over