[The diagnosis and treatment of the epiphrenal-cardial syndrome in patients with axial hiatal hernias].

An examination of 63 patients with hiatal hernias was performed in order to detect the epiphrenic-coronary reflex. Changes in the ECG in performing the Börnstein test were analyzed. The pathological epiphrenic-coronary reflex was found in 80.4% of patients with retrosternal pains or ischemic heart disease. This reflex was proved to disappear after surgical treatment of the hiatal hernia in 93.1% of the patients.