Table 3.
Characteristics of patients with and without left ventricular dilatation
| Variable | No dilatation (n=84) | Dilatation (n=23) | p Value |
| Age (years) | 58 (12) | 62 (11) | NS |
| Male | 70 (83%) | 22 (96%) | NS |
| Female | 14 (17%) | 1 (4%) | |
| Anterior myocardial infarction | 39 (46%) | 13 (57%) | NS |
| Inferior myocardial infarction | 45 (54%) | 10 (43%) | NS |
| Previous myocardial infarction | 12 (14%) | 3 (13%) | NS |
| Thrombolytic treatment | 55 (65%) | 17 (74%) | NS |
| Primary PTCA | 10 (12%) | 1 (4%) | NS |
| Number of pathological Q waves* | 1.6 (1.5) | 3.2 (1.7) | <0.0001 |
| Peak creatine kinase (IU/l) | 1372 (1016) | 2449 (1788) | <0.0005 |
| Peak MB fraction (IU/l) | 132 (90) | 209 (118) | <0.001 |
| Drug treatment on hospital discharge | |||
| ACE inhibitors | 33 (39) | 15 (65) | <0.05 |
| Resting echocardiography | |||
| End diastolic volume index (ml/m2) | 62 (3) | 66 (16) | NS |
| End systolic volume index (ml/m2) | 31 (11) | 38 (14) | <0.05 |
| Ejection fraction (%) | 51 (7) | 43 (8) | <0.0005 |
| Wall motion score index | 1.52 (0.24) | 1.75 (0.28) | <0.0005 |
| Number of akinetic segments | 1.8 (1.5) | 2.9 (1.5) | <0.005 |
| Low dose dobutamine echocardiography | |||
| Wall motion score index | 1.43 (0.22) | 1.72 (0.29) | <0.0001 |
| Number of akinetic segments | 1.4 (1.4) | 2.8 (1.5) | <0.0001 |
| Myocardial viability | 43 (51%) | 4 (17%) | <0.01 |
Values are mean (SD) or n (%).
*On the ECG at hospital discharge.
ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme; PTCA, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.