Noninvasive radionuclide assessment of cardiac function in patients with peripheral vascular disease.

Disorders of the peripheral vascular system often are associated with heart disease which may increase operative risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of radionuclide angiocardiography for evaluation of cardiac function in patients with vascular disorders. This simple procedure provides measurements of cardiac output, pulmonary blood volume, and left ventricular end-diastolic volume, stroke volume, and ejection fraction with no significant risk or discomfort to the patient. A total of 22 patients with vascular disorders were studied by this technique. Five patients had systemic arteriovenous malformations. The cardiac output, end-diastolic volume, and stroke volume were documented to be greater than normal in these patients before operation. In three patients studied following closure of the arteriovenous fistula, the cardiac output, left ventricular end-diastolic volume, and stroke volume decreased. Postoperative changes in left ventricular ejection fraction were variable. A group of 17 patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease underwent cardiac evaluation. In nine patients with no history of cardiac disease, the lowest ejection fraction of 0.45 occurred in a patient with a saccular thoracic aneurysm, the only patient of the 22 who died after operation. A wide variation in ejection fraction was observed in patients with a history of cardiac disease which ranged from 0.32 to 0.86. Objective documentation of cardiac function by radionuclide angiocardiography would appear to enhance the management of patients with peripheral vascular disorders.