Regional myocardial function was assessed by multidirectional echocardiography from eight standardized segments around the left ventricle. Thirty-six subjects (healthy, severe angina pectoris, or acute myocardial infarction) were studied 15 minutes either after the beta 1-selective beta-blocking drug metoprolol had been administered in total doses of 2 and 10 mg intravenously or after pindolol, a beta blocker with intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA), in total doses of 0.2 and 1.0 mg intravenously had been given. Metoprolol and pindolol reduced rate-pressure product (p less than 0.001 each), heart rate (p less than 0.001), and systolic blood pressure (p less than 0.05 to 0.001) in almost the same way. In patients with acute myocardial infarction, 0.2 mg pindolol improved ST segments by 33% and 2 mg metoprolol by 18%. Left ventricular diameter increased (p less than 0.001) and ejection fraction decreased (p less than 0.05) after metoprolol but not after pindolol. Pindolol did not reduce wall motion amplitudes of healthy myocardial segments, while metoprolol did ( p less than 0.01). The overall contractile function of the left ventricle is characterized by composite segmental amplitudes from both ischemic and healthy ventricular regions. In ischemic hearts this function remained unchanged after metoprolol but improved markedly after pindolol (p less than 0.005). Thus, while intravenous pindolol and metoprolol produced equal reductions in rate-pressure product, pindolol, a beta-adrenergic-blocking drug with intrinsic sympathomimetic activity, evoked less cardiac depression and thus provided a cardiac safety factor not afforded by the beta- 1-selective metoprolol.