Ventricular patterns in acute myocardial infarction.

Ventricular dysfunction attendant with acute myocardial infarction results in considerable morbidity and mortality. Acute changes in morphology and physiology underly ventricular dysfunction. The ventricular morphologic changes of AMI differ from those of chronic coronary heart disease only in their temporal characteristics. The pathophysiologic changes are the result of the interaction of several variables. These include infarct size, compliance of both the infarcted and normal myocardium, contractility, heart size, filling pressure, and afterload. Through an understanding of the role played by each of these variables, a better comprehension of events following AMI may be obtained and a more rational basis utilized for selection of therapy.