Noninvasive assessment of cardiac mechanics and clinical outcome after partial left ventriculectomy

Background. Partial left ventriculectomy (PLV) was developed as a therapy for end-stage heart failure, but results were variable with few a priori predictors of outcome. Little is known about its effects on myocardial mechanics and their relation to clinical outcome. Methods. Twenty-four dilated cardiomyopathy patients underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before PLV, and 3 and 12 months after surgery. Left ventricular (LV) circumferential shortening and wall stress were computed at three short-axis levels. Exploratory outcome analysis grouped patients according to the timing of adverse cardiac events postsurgery. Results. LV mass and volume were decreased at each postsurgical time point (all p < 0.01). At 3 months, regional wall stress was reduced at all short-axis levels; but by 12 months stress was reduced from baseline only at the apex. Circumferential shortening was increased significantly at both postsurgical time points at each level. On average, septal shortening was negative (stretching) before surgery, but increased significantly, and was positive, postsurgery. Exploratory outcome analysis found that negative values of basal septum circumferential shortening before surgery increased the probability of event-free survival beyond 6 months. Conclusions. Regional heterogeneity of LV myocardial function, associated with dilated cardiomyopathy, was diminished after PLV but was also related to patient outcome. MRI with tissue tagging is useful for assessing the efficacy of surgical therapies for congestive heart failure. (C) 2003 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.