Left ventricular function was measured after percutaneous nitroglycerin in ten patients with coronary artery disease under double blind random control. The elevation of LVEF after percutaneous nitroglycerin paste (containing 10 mg nitroglycerin) was 8.3% +/- 1.3% (P less than 0.001) at 30 min, 8.5% +/- 1.8% (P less than 0.001) at 60 min, 10.1% +/- 1.8% (P less than 0.001) at 90 min and 8.7% +/- 2.2% (P less than 0.01) at 120 min respectively, but the change of LVEF after nitroglycerin ointment (containing 5 mg nitroglycerin) was not significant. The elevation of ER and RCO after nitroglycerin paste were 0.448 +/- 0.088 (EDV/s) (P less than 0.001), 6.73 +/- 1.47 (EDV/s) (P less than 0.01) at 30 min, 0.376 +/- 0.078 (P less than 0.001), 6.64 +/- 1.36 (P less than 0.001) at 60 min, 0.456 +/- 0.089 (P less than 0.001), 8.02 +/- 2.11 (P less than 0.001) at 90 min and 0.358 +/- 0.076 (P less than 0.01), 6.18 +/- 2.05 (P less than 0.01) respectively. It was demonstrated that percutaneous nitroglycerin paste (10 mg nitroglycerin) can improve the left ventricular function of patients with coronary artery disease.