[Hemocynamic role of atrial contraction in the acute phase of myocardial infarct].

The authors have studied the haemodynamic role of atrial systole in patients in the acute stage of a myocardial infarction, usually with left ventricular failure. Their main comparison is between the results obtained with stimulation of the right ventricle at a fixed rate and those obtained with bifocal stimulation, thus restoring the atrio-ventricular sequence. The authors discuss their results, and especially their findings of improvement in cardiac output and systemic arterial blood pressure. They raise the question of synchronous stimulation in cases of infarction with heartblock complicated by left ventricular failure, and also of re-establishing sinus rhythm in cases of arrhythmia of supraventricular origin.