The aim of this study was to assess the significance of the left systolic atrioventricular (AV) plane displacement during low dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE), in predicting the recovery of left ventricular dyssynergies after revascularization. In 30 infarctiers with left ventricular dysfunction scheduled for RE (14 percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and 16 coronary artery bypass graft) and in 25 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects, a DSE, using a 16 ventricular segment model and a four-grade scoring system for the assessment of regional wall motion of the left ventricle was performed. Prior and during DSE, the left systolic AV plane displacement was recorded from the apical four- and two-chamber views, by M-mode echo, at four left ventricular sites, corresponding to the septal, lateral, anterior, and inferior walls, both in patients and controls. The study was repeated in all patients 101 +/- 14 days after successful revascularization. Healthy subjects showed a significant increase of left systolic AV plane displacement at all left ventricular sites during dobutamine infusion (DI) (P < 0.001). Patients also exhibited a significant maximum increase of left systolic AV plane displacement during DSE only in the dyssynergic sites with functional improvement in the postrevascularization echocardiogram (P < 0.001). In the remaining dyssynergic sites, without functional improvement after revascularization, the left systolic AV plane displacement did not change (P > 0.05). Selecting a maximum LAVPD increase of >2 mm at any site of the left ventricule to predict recovery of the regional ventricular dyssynergies, results in a sensitivity of 91%, specificity of 83%, positive predictive value of 88%, and negative predictive value of 87%. When two-dimensional DSE was used for the detection of reversible dysfunction, sensitivity and specificity were found to be 81.5% and 87.5%, respectively, while the positive and negative predictive values were 90% and 78%, respectively. When the two methods were in agreement the sensitivity was 90%, the specificity 100%, and the positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 84.2%, respectively. The assessment of left systolic AV plane displacement during DI constitutes a new, simple, and accurate method in the prediction of left ventricular dyssynergy recovery after revascularization. The combination of this method and two-dimensional DSE are basic predictor markers of viability of dysfunctional myocardium. (ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Volume 13, November 1996)