This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by AGRESS, C. M. Articles by SWAN, H. J. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by AGRESS, C. M. Articles by SWAN, H. J. C.

(Circulation. 1972;46:291.)
© 1972 American Heart Association, Inc.

---

An Indirect Method for Evaluation of Left Ventricular Function in Acute Myocardial Infarction

CLARENCE M. AGRESS M.D.¹; STANLEY WEGNER B.A.¹; JAMES S. FORRESTER M.D.¹; KANU CHATTERJEE M.D.¹; WILLIAM W. PARMLEY M.D.¹; H. J. C. SWAN M.B., PH.D.¹

¹ From the Department of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California.

An indirect estimate of the contractility index, max LV dP/dt/LVEDP, has been examined in 32 patients following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and in three patients with acute coronary insufficiency (ACI). The index was derived from arterial diastolic pressure (DP) obtained by sphygmomanometer, left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP) obtained by pulmonary artery balloon catheter, and preejection period (PEP) determined from the phonocardiogram, carotid pulse, and ECG. These data were used in the relation (DP-LVFP)/PEP/LVFP (i.e., P/t/LVFP) as an approximation of the direct contractility index max dP/dt/LVEDP. While measurements of PEP, DP, and LVFP used independently were not useful in distinguishing patients grouped in surviving AMI, nonsurviving AMI, and ACI categories, the P/t/LVFP index showed marked separation of these groups. Because of the simplicity of measurement and minimal intravascular intervention, the index provides a safe and practical means of assessing the degree of left ventricular dysfunction in patients with AMI.

Key Words: Left ventricular dP/dt • Preejection period

Submitted on January 24, 1972
Accepted on March 16, 1972

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. F. Nagueh, H. A. Kopelen, and M. A. Quinones Assessment of Left Ventricular Filling Pressures by Doppler in the Presence of Atrial Fibrillation Circulation, November 1, 1996; 94(9): 2138 - 2145. [Abstract] [Full Text]