Duration of diastole versus cycle length as correlates of left ventricular ejection time.

Studies were done on 82 normal subjects to evaluate cycle length versus duration of diastole as determinants of left ventricular ejection time. Cycle length and its reciprocal, heart rate, had the highest correlation with left ventricular ejection time. Removal of the self-correlation of left ventricular ejection time within cycle length reduces the correlation so that, of all intervals, duration of diastole had the highest correlation as a determinant of left ventricular ejection time. Cycle length and heart rate remain valuable as spuriously close but not misleading correlates for predicting or correcting left ventricular ejection time.