Ventricular function and arterial compliance in patients with congestive cardiomyopathy.

In order to study the interrelationship between left ventricular afterload, estimated from the mean left ventricular wall stress, and the mechanical properties of the aorta, we have simultaneously measured systemic arterial compliance and left ventricular wall stress in 19 patients with congestive cardiomyopathy. The strong linear relationship between the ejection fraction of the left ventricle and systemic arterial compliance, and between left ventricular wall stress and systemic arterial compliance, suggests that systemic arterial compliance is an important determinant of left ventricular afterload and thus of left ventricular function.