Left ventricular anterior wall metabolism was investigated concurrently with global myocardail metabolism by simultaneous preoperation sampling of anterior interventricular venous (AIV) and coronary sinus (CS) as well as arterial bloods in seven patients with severe obstructive lesions of the major coronary arteries, including left anterior descending. Postoperative study was performed two weeks to six months following successful aortocoronary artery bypass surgery. All grafts including the aorto-left anterior descending artery grafts were patent. Preoperatively in three of the seven patients, anterior wall lactate extraction (R%L) was negative at rest. The average R%L at rest (7 +/- 14%) was abnormal and was negative (-49 +/- 26%) at a maximum supraventricular pacing rate (MPR) of 137 +/- 4.6 beats/min. Postoperatively, not only was resting R%L (39 +/- 4;4%) normal but also it remained normal during atrial pacing (32 +/- 8.5%) even though the postoperative MPR (164 +/- 4.4 beats/min) was much higher than the preoperative MPR; Postoperatively AIV pO2 both at rest (21 +/- 1.1 mm Hg) and at MPR (22 +/- 1.3 mm Hg) and directly determined O2 saturations (resting: 34 +/- 3.0%; MPR:35 +/- 2.1%) tended to be higher than the preoperative values (AIV pO2, resting: 18 +/- 1.7; MPR: 19 +/- 1.7 mm Hg; AIV O2 saturation resting: 30 +/- 2.7; MPR: 33 +/- 3.3%), although only differences in pO2 were statistically significant. In five of the seven patients in whom the pre and postoperative left ventricular angiograms could be compared, systolic wall motion of the left ventricular anterior wall improved markedly postoperatively. Average global myocardial lactate extraction (G%L) preoperatively was normal (19 +/- 4.8%) at rest but was negative (-22 +/- 12%) at MPR. Postoperatively however, G%L both at rest (44 +/- 5.5%) and at MPR (34 +/- 7.9%) were normal. Coronary sinus pO2 and O2 saturation were also higher postoperatively compared to the preoperative values. Over-all left ventricular performance indicated by increase in ejection fraction also improved postoperatively. This improvement was not caused by increased coronary blood flow. Postoperative coronary sinus blood flow both at rest (114 +/- 19 ml/min) and at MPR (199 +/- 27 ml/min) however were less than the preoperative values (resting 136 +/- 24, MPR 261 +/- 40 ml/min), There was also no increase in global O2 delivery and O2 consumption despite higher heart rate and rate-pressure product achieved during postoperative pacing stress and the patients did not develop angina. These findings suggest that improved regional and global metabolism and mechanical functions observed postoperatively in these patients may be due to redistribution of blood flow to the ischemic and nonischemic myocardium following successful aortocoronary artery bypass surgery.