Late systolic indices of ventricular function: noninvasive derivation in congestive heart failure.

The slopes of end-systolic pressure/end-systolic dimension and volume relations have been found to be relatively load-independent indices of left ventricular contractility. Noninvasive determination of these relationships has been performed in normal subjects and has been found to reflect baseline and drug-induced changes in ventricular contractility. Three late systolic indices of ventricular contractility were noninvasively determined in subjects with chronic congestive heart failure to determine the feasibility of the method and to assess the linearity and slopes of the relationships in this population.

Preservation of the end-systolic pressure/end-systolic dimension relation following pindolol in congestive heart failure.

Beta blockade may adversely affect inotropic state of the ventricle, resulting in exacerbation of congestive heart failure in subjects with reduced ventricular function. In normal subjects, ventricular contractility appears to be preserved following administration of beta blockers with intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA). The inotropic state of the ventricle was assessed in seven subjects with congestive heart failure (mean ejection fraction = 23 +/- 5%) before and after administration of the ISA beta blocker, pindolol, with the use of the noninvasively derived end-systolic pressure/end-systolic dimension (ESP/ESD) relation.

Neurohumoral profile in congestive heart failure: response to beta-blockade.

Beta-blockade has been reported to have beneficial hemodynamic effects in chronic congestive heart failure that may be related to alterations in the abnormal neurohumoral profile characteristic of this population. To determine the relationship of the neurohumoral profile to the hemodynamic response to beta-blockade in patients with chronic congestive heart failure, neurohumoral and hemodynamic variables were measured in 10 subjects having congestive cardiomyopathy at baseline and after administration of the beta-blocker pindolol. Baseline stroke index was noted to have an inverse curvilinear relation with plasma norepinephrine (r = -0.

Hemodynamic-inotropic response to beta-blocker with intrinsic sympathomimetic activity in patients with congestive cardiomyopathy.

The rest and exercise hemodynamic-inotropic response to administration of the beta-blocker pindolol was evaluated in 10 patients with congestive cardiomyopathy to determine whether the intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA) of this agent may preserve ventricular function in the setting of beta-blockade. A significant (p less than .05) rise in systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance and a decline in stroke volume and cardiac index was observed after a single 10 mg dose.