Left Ventricular Function in Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease

Abstract

Abstract In 15 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease, biventricular cardiac catheterization showed that left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was elevated in seven, and abnormal left ventricular function curves were found in 14. Analysis of left ventriculography revealed increased wall thickness or diastolic chamber size (or both) in nine of 10 observations and impaired ventricular performance in three of eight. The degree of functional impairment was not influenced by the presence or absence of right-sided heart failure. Appreciable coronary narrowing was found in only two of 10 subjects studied by cineangiography. Left ventricular dysfunction was present in most of the patients studied. The pathogenesis of the dysfunction is not clear.