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Figure 4 Chordal shortening in the ischemic/reperfused LV region at baseline (before bradykinin or saline infusion), after infusion, at the end of the first, second and third balloon inflations (INFL-1, INFL-2 and INFL-3), immediately before the second and third inflations (PRE-INFL-2 and PRE-INFL-3) and 5 min after the third inflation in control and bradykinin-treated patients (n = 9 in each group). Chordal shortening was determined by quantitative two-dimensional echocardiography using the centerline method (see "Methods") and expressed as a percent of baseline values. In control patients, the decrease in chordal shortening was significantly less during the second inflation and third inflation compared with the first inflation. In contrast, in bradykinin-treated patients, chordal shortening did not change significantly during the three inflations; furthermore, during the first inflation, chordal shortenings were less in bradykinin-treated patients than in control patients. Values are means ± SEM.