[Dynamics of the heart rhythm during sleep in healthy persons and in patients who have had a myocardial infarct].

A connection was demonstrated between the sleep phases with the rhythmogram dynamics and the heart rate in healthy persons. A correlation between the tachybradycardiac shifts in the cardiac rhythm and the neurophysiological activation phenomena during rapid sleep was noted. In patients who had suffered from myocardial infarction the rate of cardiac rhythm was increased in all phases and stages of sleep and there was no correlation between the cardiac rhythm and the neurophysiological phenomena during rapid sleep. The changes described were attended by a 79% decrease in the efficacy of sleep, increase in the periods of wakefulness during sleep, and reduction in the phase of rapid sleep. It is suggested that the changes in the tonus of the vegetative centers and the disorders of the sleep structure in patients who had recovered from myocardial infarction share a common origin.