SUMMARY We studied regional myocardial dynamics during brief, strenuous bouts of running in 12 conscious dogs by telemetry before and after partial circumflex coronary artery (CCA) constriction. Regional myocardial dimensions were measured by an ultrasonic method in a control segment (CS) and segment to be made ischemic (IS). In control runs heart rate (HR), left ventricular (LV) systolic pressure, and dP/dt increased markedly, and segment end-diastolic lengths (EDL) increased along with augmentation of regional myocardial performance. Following CCA constriction, resting hemodynamics and segment dynamics remained within the control range; during running, HR was elevated similarly to the control (approximately 280/min), but LV systolic pressure and dP/dt changes were significantly reduced. Shortening of CS did not change significantly, but IS shortening, velocity, and indices of segment power and stroke work were rapidly and markedly depressed. In two dogs, ventricular fibrillation occurred during and immediately after running. After exercise, IS shortening usually required from 5 to 10 minutes to recover to near pre-exercise levels. We conclude that when regional and total cardiac function are within the normal range at rest, strenuous exercise in the presence of coronary stenosis induces rapid, severe regional myocardial dysfunction accompanied by significant hemodynamic abnormalities and, occasionally, by sudden death. Abnormal regional wall motion during and following exercise appears to provide a specific indicator of limited coronary reserve.IN NORMAL experimental animals, exercise increases the cardiac output, systemic arterial pressure, heart rate, and myocardial contractility, and thereby markedly augments myocardial oxygen consumption and coronary blood flow.1 "" When the coronary blood supply is limited by experimental coronary artery stenosis or by obstructive coronary artery disease in man, exercise is known to evoke electrocardiographic S-T segment abnormalities 7 " and to cause redistribution of coronary blood flow.
-9Such changes in the electrocardiogram, suggestive of subendocardial ischemia, have led to the widespread use of exercise stress testing in patients with coronary heart disease.
8Regional myocardial function measured by implanted ultrasonic crystals'" recently has been found to be a sensitive indicator of myocardial ischemia in conscious dogs,"~':l and we have now combined this approach with telemetry to make direct measurements of regional left ventricular dynamics and corresponding hemodynamic measurements in conscious exercising dogs before and during partial coronary artery stenosis. It was hypothesized that if coronary blood flow were limited by coronary stenosis during the resting state, regional myocardial function would remain within the normal range at rest. However, if the myocardial oxygen demands then rose to exceed the limited coronary reserve, regional myocardial performance in the ischemic area would promptly become depressed, and if the physiological stress were severe,...