Left ventricular geometry in normal and post-anterior myocardial infarction patients: sphericity index and 'new' conicity index comparisons.

Background: Anterior myocardial infarction leads a sequence of structural changes that alter the size and the shape of the left ventricle. Efforts to assess shape have been made by global left ventricular (LV) chamber analysis (sphericity index, SI) but this analysis does not detect regional shape abnormalities like those at the apical level, which precede global ventricular dilatation.

Objective: The present study will introduce a new analysis of regional apical changes in 52 normal subjects and in 92 patients with previous anterior myocardial infarction.