Ejection time before and after aortic valve replacement

Abstract

Transcutaneous recordings of carotid arterial tracings were made in 14 patients with aortic valvular stenosis, 5 with aortic insufficiency, and in 30 normal subjects. The presence of aortic valvular disease was confirmed by operation in all cases. The group with aortic valvular stenosis had marked abnormalities in the carotid tracing, the most important being the prolonged corrected ejection time. After aortic valvular replacement, the corrected ejection time decreased in all but 1 case. In addition, significant change occurred in the “u” time and “t” time in the postoperative tracings. In 5 patients with aortic insufficiency, the corrected ejection time decreased in all cases postoperatively. There were no remarkable changes in the “u” and the “t” time. We believe that this method provides a sensitive index of the hemodynamic improvement in patients subjected to aortic valvular replacement with a ball valve prosthesis. Its main advantages are its simplicity and utility as a nontraumatic, noninvasive approach to the study of ventricular function in patients with this condition. These measurements can be made repeatedly on the same patient as a simple office procedure without performing elaborate and costly cardiac catheterization procedures.