Left ventircular performance and graft patency were studied postoperatively at 2 weeks in 19 patients, and at 9 months in 15 patients. At early follow-up, left ventricular ejection fraction and mean rate of circumferential shortening were unchanged for the group as a whole, but were slightly improved in patients who had had a moderately abnormal preoperative ejection fraction of 0.30 to 0.60. At late follow-up, 10 of 14 patients had occluded at least one graft or the proximal segment of the grafted coronary artery and had an associated decrease in ventricular function. The risk of graft occlusion was greater if the preoperative ejection fraction was decreased; seven of 10 patients with a preoperative EF of less than 0.60 suffered one or more graft occlusions, but only three of 16 patients with a preoperative EF greater than 0.60 had a postoperative graft occlusion (p is less than 0.05). The results suggest that bypass graft surgery is not generally indicated as a measure to improve ventricular function in patients with ischemic heart disease.