The effects of early captopril treatment on left ventricular volumes and function in patients with and without depressed global ejection fraction after acute myocardial infarction

To determine the effects of captopril on left ventricular volumes and function in patients with and without depressed ventricular function following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) we studied 78 patients with a first Q wave AMI and no clinical evidence of heart failure. All patients underwent radionuclide ventriculography (RVG) on the 4th day after admission and were then randomly assigned to receive conventional treatment alone (36 patients, control group) or with the addition of oral captopril, 25 mg three times daily (42 patients, captopril group). RVG was repeated one month after the baseline examination. After one month the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) significantly increased in the captopril group (from 43.2±1.3 to 50.9±1.6%, P