Transmission of electrocardiograms from a moving ambulance.

Delay is the enemy for patients with acute myocardial infarction. It would be helpful for the hospital cardiologist to interpret the patient's electrocardiogram (ECG) before the arrival of the ambulance. The aim of our study was to determine whether ECG transmission from an ambulance is feasible and to assess the time savings.

Peripheral occlusive arterial disease in longstanding diabetes mellitus. A population study.

One hundred and seventy-five diabetic patients belonging to the same cohort were investigated. They were all inhabitants of a suburb of Athens and were initially identified during a diabetes detection drive conducted 11 years earlier. The study comprised a full physical examination, answering of a detailed questionnaire--with emphasis on signs of intermittent claudication (IC)--and a 12 lead ECG (analyzed according to the Minnesota code).

Effect of lack of noradrenaline on myocardial oxygen consumption in denervated dog hearts.

Surgical cardiac denervation was carried out in dogs under halothane anaesthesia. In a paired experimental design control biopsy specimens were obtained before surgical denervation. The dogs were allowed to recover and three weeks to elapse before the second biopsy specimen was taken.

Pinacidil, a new vasodilator, in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe hypertension.

A new vasodilator drug, pinacidil, N'-cyano-N-4-pyridyl-N'-1, 2,2-trimethylpropylguanidine, was studied in an open trial in 15 patients with moderate to severe hypertension. Four patients received pinacidil monotherapy, and in 11 patients it was used with a diuretic or a beta-blocker. In all but one patient normotension was achieved with a mean daily pinacidil dose of 46.

The relationship between the strength of the human heart beat and the interval between beats.

In 15 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization and pacing tests, the left ventricular (LV) pressure and its maximum rate of rise (LV dP/dt max) were measured with catheter-tip manometers. Atrial or ventricular pacing at a single steady frequency (the priming frequency) was followed by a test pulse at a varying interval (test pulse interval). In 14 subjects in whom it was examined, the contractile response after the test pulse increased with test pulse interval to reach a maximum plateau value--the optimum contractile response (OCR).