[Echocardiographic evaluation of hemodynamics and myocardial function in children under 1 year of age following surgery under conditions of artificial blood circulation].

Left and right ventricular myocardial contractility was assessed, using two-dimensional echocardiography in the earliest postoperative period after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery in 60 children under 1 year of age. It has been shown that a hemodynamically smooth postoperative period is characterized by a 36 to 40% decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction depending on the type of heart valve defect and the variant of its correction. Such a decrease in contractility required a slight inotropic support in the first 24 hours after the operation; in this case cardiac index exceeded 2.5 l.min-1.m-2 already in the first postoperative hours. By day 15 after the operation cardiac index and ventricular contractility are fully normalized, but for cases when correction is of hemodynamic and not of anatomic nature or is accompanied by myocardial injury.