Fig. 3. Left atrial (LA) end-systolic pressure–volume relations (solid lines) obtained by volume administration in typical patients with normal cardiac function (left ; controls) and those with acute myocardial infarction (AMI;middle ) and congestive heart failure (CHF;right ). A compensatory increase in LA contractility (E^es) is observed in patients with acute myocardial infarction. In contrast, patients with end-stage congestive heart failure demonstrate reduced LA E^es. Adapted with permission. 41