The kinetocardiogram during the isoproterenol test for the assessment of coronary heart disease.

50 patients, 20 without heart disease and 30 with coronary heart disease (CHD), were studied by kinetocardiography (KCG), before and after administration of isoproterenol (initial dose 2 microgram/min, maximum dose 6 microgram/min). In the control subjects the KCG was unaffected by the drug. In contrast, in most of the patients with CHD isoproterenol induced the appearance or the increase of paradoxical systolic bulges, which are regarded as the expression of ventricular dyskinesia resulting from isoproterenol-induced transient regional ischemia. This test is recommended as a valuable noninvasive method for the diagnosis of ischemic ventricular dyskinesia.