Thirty three patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were studied to determine whether the presence of an intraventricular pressure gradient impaired left ventricular emptying. Patients with resting gradients had a higher mean left ventricular ejection fraction (92 (6.4)%) than patients without a resting or inducible pressure gradient (75.5 (9)%). The rate and degree of emptying increased whe...