[The effects of atenolol on the heart size, on the heart rate, and on the blood pressure at rest (author's transl)].

Cardiac functions like heart size, heart rate, and blood pressure were studied at rest in 23 digitalized and 24 not digitalized patinents recovering from a myocardial infarction, in 16 patients with arterial hypertension and in 9 patients with regulatory dysfunctions of the circulation before and after a three week period of treatment with 2 x 50 mg or 2 x 100 mg atenolol per day. The heart rate and the blood pressure of every patient were significantly reduced, whereas the heart size which was determined by X-ray in lying patient showed no clear difference. Furthermore, the determination of the heart size facilitates the decision of the additional digitalization when the start of a long-term treatment with beta-blocking agents seems to be necessary in the aforementioned patient groups.