Left ventricular function and systemic haemodynamics were noninvasively assessed during cardiac stress testing with dipyridamole (0.84 mg kg-1 i.v.) in 10 subjects (44-61 years) with normal coronary arteries (group 1), and in 14 patients (46-77 years) with coronary artery disease either without (group 2, n = 6) or with (group 3, n = 8) echocardiographic evidence for myocardial ischaemia during test. Left ventricular wall motion and dimensions, and aortic root pressure and flow were obtained by Doppler echocardiography combined with an externally traced subclavian artery pulse calibrated with brachial artery pressures. Peripheral arterial resistance, total arterial compliance, and aortic characteristic impedance were estimated from aortic root pressure and flow, by use of a three-element windkessel model of the systemic circulation. Left ventricular ejection fraction improved from baseline to peak stress in group 1 (mean +/- SD: 62 +/- 6% vs. 65 +/- 6%, P = 0.05), whereas it was not significantly changed in group 2 (58 +/- 10% vs. 56 +/- 6%) and decreased in group 3 (53 +/- 10% vs. 43 +/- 10%, P < 0.05). Otherwise, the haemodynamic response was similar in the three groups: heart rate and cardiac index increased by at least 30% and 37%, respectively, whereas stroke index and arterial pressures were maintained at or slightly above baseline. Peripheral resistance decreased by at least 22%, and total arterial compliance and aortic characteristic impedance were not significantly altered during test. The worsening of wall motion abnormality at peak stress in group 3 was not significantly related to the change in systemic haemodynamics. Thus, dipyridamole acted predominantly on the arterioles without significantly influencing the large systemic arteries. Myocardial ischaemia during test impaired regional and global left ventricular function, but did not influence the systemic haemodynamic response.