Left ventricular function and myocardial structure in aortic valve disease before and after surgery

47 patients with aortic valve disease were studied by left ventricular micromanometry and cineangiography before and 18 months after successful valve replacement. There were 27 patients (17 with aortic stenosis, ten with aortic insufficiency) with moderate hypertrophy (angiographic mass less than 180 g/m2) and 20 patients (ten with aortic stenosis, ten with aortic insufficiency) with severe hypertrophy (angiographic mass greater than or equal to 180 g/m2). In the patients with moderate hypertrophy ejection fraction was slightly although not significantly smaller than in 14 controls. Peak systolic circumferential wall stress was, however, significantly increased. In the patients with severe hypertrophy ejection fraction was significantly decreased although afterload was similar to that in the patients with moderate hypertrophy. This indicated a depressed contractile state in the patients with mass exceeding 180 g/m2. After surgery peak systolic wall stress returned to normal levels in both groups. Among the patients with severe preoperative hypertrophy only the patients with aortic stenosis showed a normal ejection fraction after surgery, whereas in the patients with aortic insufficiency ejection fraction improved but remained depressed compared to the controls. In a second study, comparison of left ventricular function with myocardial structure (endomyocardial biopsies) was carried out in 30 patients with aortic valve disease (group 1: 18 with aortic stenosis, group 2: twelve with aortic insufficiency). Both groups were restudied 18.8 and 17.4 months, respectively, following successful aortic valve replacement. Preoperative biplane ejection fraction (60 and 57%), angiographic mass (183 and 186 g/m2), muscle fibre diameter (31.1 and 30.8 mu), interstitial fibrosis (17.1 and 17.4%) and left ventricular fibrous content (31.0 and 32.2 g/m2) were similar in the two groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)