A study of systolic intervals in 22 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) reveals that the respiratory illness tends to shorten both the isometric contraction (ICT) and the ejection time (LVET). The authors discuss possible pathophysiological interpretations of such findings and conclude that these modifications are not imputable to impaired left ventricle contractility; rather, they seem to reflect the effects on left ventricle geometry of the morphologic and functional alterations produced by the background respiratory pathology in the right ventricle.