[Serial assessment of left ventricular function after valve replacement for isolated aortic regurgitation]

Between 1978 and 1990, serial echocardiographic studies were performed on consecutive twenty-five patients of isolated aortic regurgitation (AR) before and after aortic valve replacement (AVR). The mean follow up period was 55 +/- 30 months. The serial changes in left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVDd), left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVDs), fractional shortening (FS), and ejection fraction (EF) were assessed. According to preoperative echocardiographic studies, 25 patients were divided into two groups: Group I with LVDs greater than 50 mm and FS less than 25%, Group II with LVDs less than or equal to 50 mm and/or FS greater than or equal to 25%. One year after AVR, echocardiographic studies revealed normalization of LVDd and LVDs in Group II, and persistent left ventricular enlargement with lower FS and EF levels in Group I. However three years after AVR, LVDd, LVDs, and FS and EF of Group I returned to normal levels. It was concluded that in order to normalize the left ventricular function in isolated AR patients, those who had LVDs greater than 50 mm and FS less than 25% required three years after AVR, those patients who had LVDs less than or equal to 50 mm and/or FS greater than or equal to 25%, required only one year after AVR.