The duration of left ventricular ejection was related to the preceding RR interval in 15 patients with varying duration of diastole, and hence ventricularfilling time, from atrialfibrillation. Eleven had varying degrees of mitral stenosis. Left ventricular ejection time lengthened in relation to increasing RR intervals, but reached a duration beyond which no further significant increase in ejec...

OBJECTIVES We sought to evaluate the effect of therapy with intravenous immune globulin on recovery of left ventricular function in women presenting with peripartum cardiomyopathy. BACKGROUND Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare complication of pregnancy that results in significant morbidity and mortality in women of childbearing age. Intravenous immune globulin has been reported to improve le...

INTRODUCTION Magnesium deficiency has been implicated in the pathogenesis of sudden death, but the investigation of arrhythmic mechanisms has been hindered by difficulties in measuring cellular tissue magnesium stores. METHODS AND RESULTS To see if magnesium deficiency is associated with a propensity toward triggered arrhythmias, we measured tissue magnesium levels and QT interval dispersion ...

Although the resting hemodynamic effects of captopril in congestive heart failure are known, little information is available about the hemodynamic response to captopril during exercise or about changes in noninvasive measurements of the size and function of both ventricles. In this study, 14 stable New York Heart Association class III patients were given 25 mg or oral captopril. Rest and exerci...

BACKGROUND Tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy is a reversible cause of heart failure. We hypothesized that although left ventricular ejection fraction measurements normalize after heart rate or rhythm control in patients with tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy, recurrent tachycardia may have abrupt and deleterious consequences. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with tachycardia-induced cardiomyopa...

Right and left ventricular volume variables were obtained in 43 tetralogy patients undergoing diagnostic cardiac catheterization. The patient population consisted of 25 preoperative patients (group 1) and 18 patients who had undergone aortic-to-pulmonary shunt procedure (group 2). Volumes were calculated from biplane cineangiocardiograms using Simpson's rule method for the right ventricle (RV) ...

The relation between quantitative ultrastructural changes of the left ventricular (LV) myocardium and contractile function was studied in patients with chronic aortic stenosis (AS). The volume fractions of myofibrils, sarcoplasm and mitochondria in myocardial cells were determined by electron microscopic morphometry in small LV tissue samples of 19 patients with AS. Interstitial fibrosis was me...