[Kinetocardiographic surveys in coronary heart disease patients during infusion of isoproterenol and dopamine. A contribution to the diagnosis of coronary insufficiency (author's transl)].

80 patients affected by coronary heart disease, with or without infarction, were studied by kinetocardiographic technique before and after infusion of isoproterenol (ISP) (40 patients) or dopamine (DOP) (40 patients). 40 healthy subjects served as controls (20 for ISP and 20 for DOP). Whereas the infusion of ISP or DOP caused no abnormalities in the healthy subjects, pathological changes of the kinetocardiogram (KCG) were often induced in patients with coronary heart disease. In particular, these changes demonstrated the appearance of paradoxical outward systolic movements, reduction or disappearance of the volume effect during the ejection phase, an increase of atrial waves expressed in per cent of the total amplitude of the KCG. The abnormalities observed during the intravenous infusion of ISP or DOP were interpreted as signs of ventricular dysfunction consequent to the myocardial ischaemia induced by these amines. The use of ISP or DOP together with KCG is recommended as a diagnostic method for coronary insufficiency.