Effects of beta-adrenergic blockade in acute myocardial infarction: evaluation by radionuclide ventriculography.

In acute myocardial infarction, beta-adrenergic blockade might depress left ventricular contractility or improve contractility by reducing ischemia. Gated equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography and cuff blood pressure were employed in 10 patients to assess the left ventricular systolic pressure/volume (P/V) ratio as an index of contractility before and after intravenous metoprolol 9.3 +/- 2.5 hr after onset of infarction. In 13 normal subjects, the baseline left ventricular PV ratio was 3.5 and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 70%, both greater than the patients with infarction. In the patients after blockade, the systolic blood pressure decreased (p = 0.02), and the left ventricular end-systolic volume increased (p = 0.003), thus decreasing the P/V ratio from 1.7 to 1.4 (p = 0.003), while the ejection fraction (EF) was unchanged (55% versus 52%). The right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) decreased from 50% to 43% (p = 0.004). Thus, radionuclide ventriculography demonstrated that left ventricular contractility was reduced in patients with acute myocardial infarction and that beta-adrenergic blockade further decreased left ventricular contractility and right ventricular performance.