[Determination of the size of the left ventricle and of the contractile capacity of the myocardium in patients with ischemic heart disease and early signs of circulatory insufficiency]. 
Echocardiography was employed in examining 120 patients with ischemic heart disease and early indications of circulatory insufficiency along with 40 practically healthy subjects.  In patients with an atherosclerotic lesion of the heart of the I--III degree without signs of circulatory insufficiency the systolic and diastolic volumes of the left ventricle of the heart were found to be enlarged.  In patients with circulatory incompetence of the IIb degree these volumes were extended to the maximum, comprising 278 and 136 per cent, respectively, of the figures in controls.  The excursion rates of the myocardium during the periods of systole and diastole were declining proportionally to the severity of the cardiac affection and in patients with circulatory insufficiency of the IIB degree they amounted to 60 and 52 per cent of the initial level.  The ejection fraction--% delta S and VCF in this group of patients decreased down to 30 and 24 per cent of the results in controls.  The most sensitive indicator proved VCF, which was depressed even in patients presenting no manifest clinical signs pointing to the circulatory insufficiency.  Echocardiography is a novel valuable non-traumatic procedure that enables one to assess the extent to which the contractility of the myocardium suffers parallel with the development of early signs of decompensation.