Descriptive study of a case series.
The intensive care unit (ICU) of a provincial hospital.
The study period was from April 1999 to June 2001. All patients admitted to the ICU with critical, non-coronary artery pathology, with no past history of cardiac disease, and those who were resuscitated after cardio-respiratory arrest, were included in the study.
Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography was used to assess left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and disturbances of segmental contractility. This study was carried out within the first 24 h after admission, during the first week, during the second or third week, after 1 month, and between 3 and 6 months. Twenty-nine patients with a median age of 65 years (range 24–76) were included in the study. Twelve patients died. Twenty patients developed myocardial dysfunction; the initial LVEF in these patients was 0.28 (0.12–0.51), showing improvement over time in the patients who survived. All of these patients presented disturbances of segmental contractility which also became normal over time.
After successful CPR, reversible myocardial dysfunction, consisting of systolic myocardial dysfunction and disturbances of segmental contractility, may occur.