Long-term spontaneous variability of left ventricular end-diastolic pressure

In two different catheterization studies the authors repeatedly measured the left ventricular pressures in 43 men with chronic stabilized ischaemic heart disease. The interval between both tests averaged two months. The end-diastolic and systolic pressure and the heart rate were measured. A comprehensive evaluation of the results revealed no statistically significant differences between the results of the first and second measurements. Their correlations are expressed by the following correlation coefficients: r = 0.80 for the end-diastolic pressure, r = 0.76 for the systolic pressure, and r = 0.74 for the heart rate. The study offers first information about the long-term variability of the left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and contributes to a more exact appraisal of its value in evaluation of natural course or long-term therapeutic intervention of heart diseases.