Left ventricular dysfunction in patients with angina pectoris and normal coronary angiograms.

Left ventricular function was assessed in 201 patients who presented with angina pectoris and who were subsequently found to have completely normal coronary angiograms. Left ventricular angiograms from 187 patients were suitable for analysis of systolic regional wall motion; 121 were found to be normal and 66 had a total of 115 hypokinetic segments. Patients with hypokinesia had a significantly higher left ventricular end systolic volume and a significantly lower left ventricular ejection fraction and exercise capacity than those in whom regional wall motion was normal. Thirty one per cent of patients with normal wall motion and 30% of those with hypokinesia had a resting left ventricular end diastolic pressure greater than 15 mm Hg. There were significantly more smokers in the group with hypokinetic segments. Thus of patients with angina and normal coronary angiograms, 25% had evidence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction, 20% had evidence of diastolic dysfunction, and 11% had evidence of both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. The results suggest that smoking may be associated with left ventricular regional wall motion abnormalities.