Left ventricular torsional mechanics after left ventricular reconstruction surgery for ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: Surgical left ventricular reconstruction improves symptoms and potentially prognosis in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy; however, the effects of reconstruction on myocardial mechanics are not well defined. Therefore, we have computed left ventricular rotation and torsion in patients undergoing left ventricular reconstruction to determine its effects on these quantitative measures of myocardial mechanics.

Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging with tissue grid-tagging was performed in 26 patients (19 male/7 female, 62 +/- 11 years) (mean +/- standard deviation) before (23 +/- 29 days) and after (231 +/- 106 days) left ventricular reconstruction, as well as in 7 healthy volunteers (5 male/2 female, 34 +/- 7 years).