[Rheocardiographic evaluation of left-ventricular contractility in the measured isometric pedal test]

Central hemodynamic parameters were assessed by tetrapolar chest rheography during rationed isometric pedal stress exposure in 54 normal subjects and 24 angina patients. The relationship between left-ventricular contractility and the magnitude of increasing static effort at different steps of stress exposure was examined. In normal subjects, the increase in static effort was shown to affect significantly left-ventricular contractile capacity, left-ventricular performance index and left-ventricular contractile index, and has no effect on the myocardial contractility index. In anginal patients, developing myocardial ischemia in response to stress, there was a significant drop in left-ventricular contraction intensity, myocardial contractility index and left-ventricular contractile index, as compared to the pre-ischemic values. The rheographic left-ventricular contractile index is believed to be the best instrument for the assessment of left-ventricular inotropic activity in isometric stress.