Angiocardiographic and haemodynamic studies in chronic haemodialysis patients with cardiomegaly.

Twenty-one chronic haemodialysis patients with cardiomegaly and repeated episodes of heart failure were selected for left ventricular cineangiography and haemodynamic studies. Left ventricular end-diastolic (LVED) volume was augmented in eleven, LVED pressure increased in fourteen, and ejection fraction decreased in nine patients. A decrease of maximum velocity of myocardial fibre shortening was observed in fifteen, and of normalised ventricular rigidity index in eleven. Many patients had diminished cardiac performance in the absence of demonstrable coronary heart disease, hypertension, or chronic volume overload. The diagnosis of congestive cardiomyopathy of unknown aetiology, possibly related to uraemia, was reached in ten patients.