The likely mechanisms responsible for the occurrence of angina pectoris, which were revealed by 24-hour ECG monitoring, were correlated with abnormalities in hemostasis and blood lipid spectrum. Changes in the blood lipid spectrum were demonstrated to play the leading role in the development of angina due to higher myocardial oxygen demand. Those in platelet hemostasis are mostly pronounced in impaired myocardial oxygen supply due to vessel spasm and/or formation of platelet aggregates.

An attempt was made to electrocardiographically assess the likely mechanisms responsible for the occurrence of arrhythmias. The frequency of ventricular ectopic complexes was compared with fluctuations of coupling interval duration. An examination of 36 patients provided evidence for preliminary considerations concerning the causation between the frequency of ventricular ectopic complexes and the duration of coupling interval. The findings are promising from clinical and predictive points of view.

Plasmapheresis was used to correct blood lipid composition in patients with angina at rest and angina of effort (functional classes 3-4). In addition to a drop in total cholesterol and triglycerides, cholesterol in low and very-low-density lipoproteins fell abruptly, while high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, on the contrary, increased considerably. Clinical improvement of the patients was also recorded.

A study of 32 patients with complicated acute myocardial infarction, treated with gravitation plasmapheresis during the acute phase of the disease, demonstrated a significant drop in blood concentrations of compounds with high molecular weights (fibrinogen, cholesterol, triglycerides, total protein) as well as a significant activation of the heart's pumping function, while total peripheral resistance declined, as did the degree of myocardial ischemia. This is interpreted as an evidence of positive effect of plasmapheresis on central hemodynamics, myocardial metabolism and clinical course of myocardial infarction in such patients.

Effects of nitroprusside, nitroglycerin, propranolol and mannitol on the size of infarcted and peri-infarction areas were examined in 276 patients with acute left-ventricular anterior myocardial infarction. The study involved an assessment of electrocardiograms from 35 precordial leads, and the measurement of central venous blood pressure, hemodynamic parameters, serum enzymes, acid-base state and, in some patients, the pressure inside the pulmonary artery, right and left cavities of the heart and the aorta, left-ventricular kinetocardiography, etc. All the drugs examined were shown to have a favourable effect on the size of the peri-infarction area and reduce the extent of myocardial infarction. Indications for each of the drugs have been worked out on a differential basis. A detailed analysis of ECG patterns from multiple chest leads under the action of nitroprusside, nitroglycerin, propranolol and mannitol is presented.

Fifty-six patients with acute myocardial infarction aggravated by left ventricular insufficiency were examined. A series of 39 patients received the intravenous instillation of sodium nitroprusside, the remaining 17 patients were given conventional treatment. Hemodynamic parameters and those yielded by precordial mapping at 35 leads were compared over time between the groups. Sodium nitroprusside therapy was related to significant beneficial changes in the hemodynamic parameters and ECG. It is concluded that sodium nitroprusside is highly effective in controlling left ventricular insufficiency in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

On the basis of electrokymographic and echocardiographic findings, the authors elucidated a sharp fall in myocardial hemodynamics and contractility during extrasystole contractions arising from the ventricles which was directly dependent on the severity of blood circulation insufficiency. Post-extrasystole contractions occurring after a full compensatory pause tended to compensate the worsened hemodynamics only partially; the degree of compensation being the higher, the better the functional state of the myocardium.