RIGHT-VENTRICULAR DILATATION AND REMODELING THE 1ST YEAR AFTER AN INITIAL TRANSMURAL WALL LEFT-VENTRICULAR MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION

Left ventricular (LV) remodeling after LV myocardial infarction was de scribed previously. Little is known regarding concomitant adaptation, if any, in right ventricular (RV) volumes after LV infarction. To exam ine this issue, cine-computed tomography was used to determine serial changes in absolute global LV and RV volumes in 27 patients without cl inical heart failure during the first year after an initial Q-wave myo cardial infarction (14 anterior and 13 inferior). The patient group wi th anterior wall LV infarction showed progressive increases in LV and RV volumes from hospital discharge to 1 year (end-diastolic volumes +2 5 and +13%, respectively; and end-systolic volumes +35 and +15%, respe ctively). In patients with inferior wall LV infarction, both LV end-di astolic and end-systolic volumes increased significantly during the st udy period (+13 and +15%, respectively). Despite a trend for RV end-di astolic volume to be increased at 1 year, neither end-diastolic nor en dsystolic volume increased significantly after hospital discharge foll owing inferior wall LV infarction. Absolute RV end-diastolic volume wa s not significantly different between the infarct groups at any time a fter infarction. In conclusion, global changes occur in both LV and RV volumes during the first year after an initial infarction regardless of infarct location. The magnitude of these changes was greater after anterior than inferior wall LV infarction.