Improvement in symptoms and left ventricular performance after balloon aortic valvuloplasty in patients with aortic stenosis and depressed left ventricular ejection fraction.

The application of balloon aortic valvuloplasty to elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis and a low ventricular ejection fraction is undefined. Balloon aortic valvuloplasty was performed in a subset of 28 patients with low left ventricular ejection fraction (37 +/- 11%), severe aortic stenosis, and a mean age of 79 +/- 5 years. After valvuloplasty, significant increases were seen in aortic valve area (from 0.5 +/- 0.1 to 0.9 +/- 0.2 cm2), aortic systolic pressure (from 120 +/- 12 to 135 +/- 22 mm Hg), and cardiac output (from 4.2 +/- 1.1 to 4.8 +/- 1.6 l/min) (p less than 0.01), and significant decreases were seen in transaortic pressure gradient (from 69 +/- 25 to 35 +/- 15 mm Hg) and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (from 24 +/- 9 to 20 +/- 7 mm Hg) (p less than 0.01). All patients had symptomatically improved at the time of discharge. Serial radionuclide ventriculography showed an increase in left ventricular ejection fraction from 37 +/- 11% before valvuloplasty to 44 +/- 14% within 48 hours after dilatation and to 49 +/- 13% at 3 months after dilatation. However, there was substantial heterogeneity of response. Thirteen patients (group A) showed progressive increases in left ventricular ejection fraction (from 34 +/- 11% to 49 +/- 15% to 58 +/- 11%, p less than 0.0001), whereas 15 patients (group B) showed no significant change in ejection fraction (from 41 +/- 10% to 40 +/- 13% to 41 +/- 10%, p = NS) over 3 months. There was no difference between these groups with respect to age, extent of coronary artery disease, history of myocardial infarction, and aortic valve area before and after valvuloplasty. However, peak systolic wall stress and left ventricular dimensions were higher in group B compared with group A. In conclusion, balloon aortic valvuloplasty may result in symptomatic improvement in patients with aortic stenosis and depressed left ventricular ejection fraction; some patients develop progressive increases in ejection fraction, whereas others fail to show improvement.