Left ventricular performance after aortic valve replacement in patients with low ejection fraction

The operative validity of aortic valve replacement (AVR) for high-risk patients with impaired left ventricular (LV) function is controversial. We measured LV contractility, afterload, and efficiency by use of transthoracic echocardiography data obtained before, after, and approximately 1 year after isolated AVR for 335 patients with aortic stenosis (AS group; n = 160), aortic regurgitation (AR group; n = 116), or aortic stenosis and regurgitation (ASR group; n = 59). Two subgroups were created: LV ejection fraction (EF) of ≥50 % (normal-EF subgroup) and