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This study was designed to investigate the potential role of radionuclide angiographic phase imaging in defining ventricular pacing sites. Twenty patients were paced from multiple right ventricular and left ventricular sites. Ten patients had both normal wall motion and normal electrocardiograms (ECGs), while 10 patients had segmental wall motion abnormalities and/or bundle branch block. Both continuous pacing and premature ventricular stimuli were performed. Multiple (two to three) views of each pacing site were obtained by radionuclide angiography and the ventricular site was determined by subsequent phase imaging. Simultaneous 12-lead ECGs were also obtained. The phase-imaging technique accurately localized all 35 right ventricular and 21 of 25 (84%) left ventricular sites to a specific segment. Statistically, this localization ability was independent of baseline wall motion or conduction system disease. In addition, sites as close as 1.5 cm were identified. The 12-lead ECG distinguished left ventricular from right ventricular pacing sites in all patients. Segmental localization by ECG in the right ventricle was accurate in 24 of 35 (69%) and in the left ventricle in 17 of 25 (68%). Thus, radionuclide angiographic phase imaging provides excellent descriptive information regarding the focus of ventricular pacing ectopy and can define both sites of continuous pacing and intermittent premature ventricular stimulation. These findings provide a basis for further assessment of the role of phase imaging in the evaluation of patients with spontaneous ventricular ectopy.

This study was designed to validate the use of combined invasive and noninvasive methods in assessing serial pressure-volume relations in man. Ten patients undergoing cardiac catheterization were studied with simultaneous intracardiac micromanometer pressure recordings, gated radionuclide angiography and echocardiography. Systolic and diastolic function were measured at rest, during right atrial pacing rates of 100 and 120 beats/min and after nitroglycerin administration. Right atrial pacing studies (rate of 100 beats/min) were performed in duplicate to determine the reproducibility of the method. At the conclusion of each study, the model was validated with contrast angiography. Good reproducibility was evident when measuring the maximum and average filling and ejection rates, time to peak filling rate, ejection fraction, the modulus of chamber stiffness, the time course of left ventricular relaxation, global average stress and ventricular work indexes using the model described above. These data were not significantly different (p greater than 0.05) from comparable data obtained from contrast angiography. Right atrial pacing and nitroglycerin administration resulted in predictable alterations in the pressure-volume loop and in the systolic and diastolic measurements. The maximum and average filling rates, ejection rates and time to peak filling rate appeared to be heart rate-dependent variables. By combining available invasive and noninvasive methods, accurate pressure-volume relationships can be determined. Because the method we tested provides accurate volumetric and timing measurements for cardiac events and does not alter hemodynamics, it may be useful for obtaining serial assessments of the pressure-volume relationship in man.

Twenty-five patients with left ventricular failure and low cardiac output received a 72 hour infusion of dobutamine (10-15 microgram/kg/min) in order to determine the cardiovascular properties of this new inotropic agent. Left ventricular contractile performance improved significantly during the infusion as measured by systolic time intervals and echocardiographic parameters. Mean PEP/LVET decreased from 0.76 +/- 0.03 to 0.58 +/- 0.03 (P less than 0.05). The percent change in internal dimension of the left ventricle from diastole to systole increased from 9.5 +/- 1 to 16.8 +/- 1 (P less than 0.05) and Vcf increased from 0.47 +/- 0.05 to 0.80 +/- 0.06 circ/sec (P less than 0.05). Mean cardiac output (nine patients) rose from 1.97 +/- 0.15 to 3.33 +/- 0.50 L/min/m2 while mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure fell from 28 +/- 3 to 18 +/- 2 mm Hg during the infusion period (both P less than 0.05). These changes in cardiac function occurred without significant changes in heart rate, ventricular irritability, or blood pressure. Urine flow and urine sodium concentration increased during the infusion period. The improvement of cardiac function without the simultaneous development or exacerbation of undesirable effects (tachycardia, premature ventricular contractions, increased pulmonary or systemic resistance, tachyphylaxis, etc.) makes dobutamine a highly desirable inotropic agent.

Changes in myocardial perfusion and left ventricular function were evaluated pre- and post-operatively (3--6 months) in 14 patients with unstable angina who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. Perfusion was studied with intracoronary and intragraft injections of radiolabeled macroaggregated albumin particles. Of 20 abnormal perfusion areas identified preoperatively, 13 demonstrated improved perfusion post-operatively. Segmental analysis of the left ventriculogram demonstrated improved wall motion in 29 abnormally contracting segments; 18 normalized. Areas which showed improvement of left ventricular perfusion were invariably associated with improvement of left ventricular wall motion. Five patients showed improvement in perfusion and contraction in areas of apparent old myocardial infarction. Thirteen of the 14 patients had significantly less angina whether or not there was evidence of improved perfusion. However, only those patients who demonstrated improved perfusion had a significant improvement in their treadmill exercise tolerance postoperatively. Thus, patients with unstable angina have perfusion defects which may be reversed as a result of saphenous vein graft surgery. Reversal of these perfusion abnormalities results in improved left ventricular performance and better exercise tolerance postoperatively.

Stress and resting myocardial perfusion were assessed in 38 patients who received 96 grafts. Stress perfusion was evaluated with thallium-201 and resting myocardial blood flow distribution with radiolabeled particles. When both stress and rest perfusion were normal, graft patency was 82% (51 of 62 grafts). Graft patency was also high (81%, 13 of 16) in areas where stress perfusion abnormalities resolved or become less apparent at rest. However, when stress perfusion defects remained unchanged at rest, the graft was likely to be occluded (73%, 11 of 15). Maintenance of normal rest perfusion or improvement of rest perfusion postoperatively was also associated with a high graft patency rate (80%, 35 of 44), whereas the development of new rest perfusion defects postoperatively implied graft occlusion (86%, six of seven).

Thirteen patients with severe cardiac failure underwent a single crossover study of dopamine and dobutamine in order to compare the systemic and regional hemodynamic effects of the two drugs. The dose-response data demonstrated that dobutamine (2.5--10 microgram/kg/min) progressively and predictably increases cardiac output by increasing stroke volume, while simultaneously decreasing systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. There was no change in heart rate or premature ventricular contractions (PVCs)/min at this dose range. Dopamine (2--8 microgram/kg/min) increased the stroke volume and cardiac output at 4 microgram/kg/min. Dopamine at less than 4 microgram/kg/min provided little additional increase in cardiac output and increased the pulmonary wedge pressure and the number of PVCs/min. At greater than 6 microgram/kg/min, dopamine increased heart rate. During the 24-hour maintenance-dose infusion of each drug (dopamine 3.7--4, dobutamine 7.3--7.7 microgram/kg/min), only dobutamine maintained a significant increase of stroke volume, cardiac output, urine flow, urine sodium concentration, creatinine clearance and peripheral blood flow. Renal and hepatic blood flow were not signfiicantly altered by the maintenance dose of either drug. Systemic and regional hemodynamic data suggest that dobutamine has many advantages over dopamine when infused in patients with cardiac failure.

Significant pericardial disease can exist without overt manifestations. Occult constrictive pericardial disease (OCPD) is identified by normal baseline hemodynamics and normal left ventricular systolic function with a characteristic response to rapid volume infusion. Following the intravenous administration of 1000 ml of normal saline over six to eight minutes, striking elevations of filling pressures are seen; however, diagnosis depends specifically upon a) the development of typical pressure pulse morphology of constriction, b) loss or reversal or respiratory variation of right atrial pressure, and c) precise diastolic equilibration of intracardiac pressures. Nineteen patients with OCPD have been identified in a five year period. Unexplained fatigue, dyspnea and chest pain was the uniform pattern of presentation. Eleven have undergone pericardiectomy resulting in a dramatic symptomatic improvement in all. Each demonstrated gross and/or microscopic evidence of pericardial disease. Recatheterization with volume infusion in five patients following pericardiectomy has revealed return to normal or near normal hemodynamics. This study describes the method for diagnosis of OCPD and recommends pericardiectomy for the management of disabling symptoms.