Effect of dextran loading on left ventricular performance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The status of left ventricular function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease remains controversial. With a radionuclide technique left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular end-diastolic volume, cardiac output, and stroke volume were measured at rest and following infusion of dextran in 23 men with severe COPD. Resting, mean LVEF was normal in 19 subjects with COPD alone; four with COPD and coronary artery disease had a depressed mean LVEF. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume index and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure were both normal at rest indicating that the left ventricle was not volume underloaded. There was a normal response to dextran infusion (750 ml.) with no deterioration in LVEF and a significant increase in cardiac index, stroke volume index, LVEDVI, and PCW. These data suggest that at rest and following volume loading with dextran left ventricular function is normal in patients with COPD.