“…Therefore, the physician must exercise judgment to correctly assess perioperative surgical risks and the need for further evaluation. Resting LV function has been evaluated before noncardiac surgery by radionuclide angiography, echocardiography, and contrast ventriculography (46,(151)(152)(153)(154)(155)(156)(157)(158)(159)(160). Of 9 studies that demonstrated a positive relation between decreased preoperative ejection fraction and postoperative mortality or morbidity, 6 were prospective (151,152,155,158,161,162), and 3 were retrospective (153,154,158).…”