Prognosis of patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction after coronary artery bypass grafting.
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Past studies using Holter monitoring and retrospective reviews of death certificates have documented peak occurrence of sudden death and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the morning hours. We used the Ventritex Cadence device (Ventritex, Sunnyvale, California) which documents the date and time of all stored arrhythmias leading to device therapy to evaluate the circadian pattern of sustained ventricular arrhythmia recurrence. Mean follow-up after defibrillator implantation was 628 +/- 285 days. All 390 patients had at least 1 episode (range 1 to 43) of sustained VT documented from analysis of the stored electrograms associated with an arrhythmia event. Stored electrograms were available for review and analysis in 3,041 device detections; 349 stored events were excluded because they did not fulfill the diagnostic criteria for VT or failed to document the onset of the ventricular arrhythmia at the beginning of the recorded event of the arrhythmia episode. Criteria for the diagnosis of VT or ventricular fibrillation were met in 2,692 arrhythmia episodes occurring in 390 patients. There was circadian variation for ventricular arrhythmia recurrence for the whole patient group with the data fit to the sinusoidal density function: f(t) = 126 - 51 x cos (-57 + 2 pi t/24) - 25 x sin (63 + 2 pi t/12) (p < 0.0001). Ventricular arrhythmia occurrence rate was lowest between 2:00 and 3:00 A.M., and highest between 10:00 and 11:00 A.M. In addition, the same circadian pattern was demonstrated regardless of patient age, gender, left ventricular ejection fraction (< 35% or > or = 35%), and VT cycle length (< 300 or > or = 300 ms).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Improvement in left ventricular (LV) performance after coronary artery bypass surgery remains the gold standard in myocardial viability assessment. The time-related changes, however, are not well known. This study examined the LV ejection fraction (EF) by gated blood pool imaging early (6 +/- 4 days) and late (62 +/- 24 days) after surgery in patients with normal preoperative EF (group 1, n = 12) and those with LV dysfunction (group 2, n = 15). There were no changes in the clinical status between the early and late studies, and all patients had normal sinus rhythm. Group 1 had no significant change in EF (preoperatively 62%, early postoperatively 64%, late postoperatively 63%; p = NS). In group 2, EF was 26% +/- 8% preoperatively; 30% +/- 10% early postoperatively; and 34% +/- 8% late postoperatively (p < 0.05). Postoperatively there was > or = 5% improvement in EF in 4 patients early and 11 patients late (p < 0.05). Patients who showed early improvement continued to do so in the late study but, additionally, 7 patients showed improvement only in the late study. Thus the timing of EF measurement after surgery is important in patients with LV dysfunction but not in patients with normal LV function. Early assessment may underestimate the prevalence and degree of recovery.
Systolic blood pressure typically decreases during adenosine infusion because of stimulation of A2b receptors, resulting in systemic vasodilation. This study examined the results of adenosine single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) thallium-201 imaging in patients who did not show such a decrease in blood pressure during peak adenosine effect (nonresponders). The 102 nonresponders and 341 responders had no significant differences in age, gender, history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or previous myocardial infarction. The extent of coronary artery disease (CAD) by angiography was also similar. The sensitivity of SPECT thallium-201 imaging in patients with one-vessel disease was 82% in nonresponders and 84% in responders (p value not significant [NS]); in patients with multivessel disease, it was 90% in nonresponders and 94% in responders (p = NS) and for all CAD, it was 87% in non-responders and 91% in responders (p = NS). Thus lack of hemodynamic systemic response during adenosine infusion does not affect sensitivity for detecting CAD.
This study examines the prognostic implications of normal exercise tomographic thallium images in medically treated patients with angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease (CAD). There were 97 patients aged 60 +/- 10 years; 52 had 1-, 30 had 2-, and 15 had 3-vessel CAD (> or = 50% diameter stenosis). The exercise test was submaximal in 51 patients (53%); ST-segment depression during exercise occurred in 20 patients (21%), and angina during exercise occurred in 23 patients (24%). Most patients (71%) were receiving antianginal therapy. During a mean follow-up of 32 months, only 3 patients had cardiac events: 2 died of cardiac causes and 1 had nonfatal myocardial infarction (event rate 1.1%/year). None of those 3 patients had positive ST response during exercise. Thus, medically treated patients with CAD (including those with multivessel CAD) have a benign prognosis in the presence of normal exercise thallium images. These results have important implications in patient management and cost of health delivery.
Left ventricular (LV) remodeling after Q-wave anterior acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was examined with single-photon emission computed tomographic thallium imaging. Initial (after adenosine infusion) and 4-hour delayed reinjection images were obtained in 34 patients aged 65 +/- 12 years. Short-axis slices from the delayed images were quantitatively analyzed by measuring the outer and inner diameters, and wall thickness. The results were compared with those in a group of normal subjects. The outer diameter was greater in patients than in normal subjects at the apical, mid- and basal levels (all p < 0.01); the average outer diameter was 16.9 +/- 1.9 mm in patients, and 12.2 +/- 1.3 mm in normal subjects (p < 0.001). Similarly, the inner diameter was greater in patients than in normal subjects at the 3 levels (all p < 0.05); the average inner diameter was 6.5 +/- 1.8 mm in patients, and 4.7 +/- 1.3 mm in normal subjects (p < 0.01). Wall thickness was greater in patients than in normal subjects (5.2 +/- 0.5 vs 3.8 +/- 0.5 mm; p < 0.0001). There were significant correlations between LV dilation and time elapsed (in weeks) since AMI (r = 0.57; p < 0.005), and the size of the perfusion abnormality (r = 0.44; p < 0.03). Thus, LV dilation occurs after Q-wave anterior AMI, and is related to infarct size and duration. These changes can be studied by single-photon emission computed tomographic thallium imaging.
BACKGROUND: This study examined the prognostic value of adenosine single-photon emission computed tomographic thallium imaging in medically treated patients with angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients who underwent coronary revascularization within 3 months of this study were excluded. There were 177 patients aged 64 +/- 11 years; 74 had one-vessel, 57 had two-vessel, and 46 had three-vessel CAD (> or = 50% diameter stenosis). During a mean follow-up of 22 +/- 13 months, there were 14 events (cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction). Cox survival analysis with important clinical, catheterization, and scintigraphic variables identified the size of perfusion abnormality as the strongest predictor of events (chi 2 = 9). Life-table analysis showed that patients with perfusion defects of 15% or greater of the myocardium had a worse prognosis than had patients with no or smaller defects (Mantel-Cox statistic = 13; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Thus adenosine single-photo emission computed tomographic thallium imaging provides important prognostic data in medically treated patients with CAD. The extent of thallium abnormality is the most important predictor of events.
BACKGROUND: Previous studies show sex-related differences in left ventricular (LV) response to exercise. It is not clear, however, whether these differences are also seen in younger healthy subjects. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study examined the changes in LV performance during dynamic upright exercise in 11 healthy men and 19 healthy young women according to the Bruce protocol and an individualized ramp protocol. There were no significant differences between the two protocols for either men or women in heart rate, blood pressure, LV ejection fraction (EF) (measured by ambulatory nuclear detector), and measured oxygen consumption. The peak oxygen consumption was higher in men than in women (44 +/- 13 vs 36 +/- 9 ml/kg/min; p < 0.05), but the peak heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and EF were similar. The change in EF (from rest to exercise) was 19% +/- 8% in men and 19% +/- 11% in women with the Bruce protocol (difference not significant) and 26% +/- 9% in men and 19% +/- 6% in women with the ramp protocol (difference not significant). At peak exercise, both men and women showed an increase in end-diastolic volume (29% +/- 14% vs 23% +/- 11%; difference not significant) and a decrease in end-systolic volume (41% +/- 15% vs 43% +/- 21%) (difference not significant). The increase in cardiac output during exercise was due to an increase in heart rate and stroke volume in both men and women. At submaximal exercise, however, the decrease in end-systolic volume was less in women than in men (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There are no sex-related differences in compensatory mechanism during dynamic exercise in healthy subjects. The changes in contractility and LV volume are not affected by the exercise protocol.