Influence of the preoperative signal-averaged electrocardiogram on left ventricular function after coronary artery...

Patients with ischemic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction often have an improved survival and life quality after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), in part due to an improvement in LV function. A lack of LV ejection fraction (EF) improvement postoperatively portends a worse prognosis. Recently, an abnormal preoperative signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG) in patients with a severely depressed LV ejection fraction undergoing elective CABG was shown to be associated with a higher early and late postoperative mortality. The present study evaluated patients with severe LV dysfunction to identify any relation between an abnormal preoperative SAECG and postoperative changes in LV function after successful CABG. Forty-five patients with LV dysfunction (LVEF <0.36) scheduled for elective CABG underwent preoperative SAECG and both pre- and postoperative LVEF determinations using radionuclide scans. Thirty-one patients in the group had an abnormal preoperative SAECG and 14 patients had a normal preoperative SAECG. Baseline patient characteristics were similar in both groups and the mean preoperative LVEF was 0.26. Overall, LVEF improved 31% postoperatively with a significantly greater benefit noted in the group with a normal baseline SAECG (14.9+/-5.7-point vs 4.8+/-8.5-point increase, p <0.001). All patients whose LVEF did not improve or worsened postoperatively had an abnormal preoperative SAECG. No SAECG measure was altered significantly by the operation. A preoperative SAECG provides information on the postoperative functional recovery of ischemic myocardium.