Effect of normative aging on midwall left ventricular systolic performance

To determine whether aging is accompanied by a reduction in left ventricular resting midwall systolic performance despite normal endocardial systolic function, we evaluated endocardial and midwall mechanics by echocardiography in 330 healthy adults with blood pressures < 160/95 nun Hg. In both sexes, midwall left ventricular fractional shortening varied inversely with end-systolic wall stress, but no differences in this relation were observed between subgroups that were older versus younger than the median age (48 years in women and 50 years in men).