[Diagnostic value of the atropine test in the sick sinus syndrome]

Altogether 63 patients with clinical signs of the SNWS (the 1st group), 16 patients with coronary heart disease and the latent SNWS (the 2nd group), 26 patients with heart coronary disease without disorder of sinus node function (the 3rd conventionally control group) and 60 healthy persons (the 4th control group) were examined. Atropine was administered i. v. to them all at a a dose of 0.02 mg/kg of the body mass. The heart beat rate (HBR) was measured before atropine injection as well as its increment after atropine injection. The HBR after atropine injection in the patients of the 1st group was significantly higher than that in the 2nd-4th groups; in the patients of the 2nd group the HBR was significantly less than that in the 3rd-4th groups. In the 3rd group the HBR was significantly less than that in the 4th group. An increased percentage of the HBR in the patients with clinical signs of the SNWS and in the healthy persons did not differ significantly (46.6 +/- 3.7% and 51 +/- 2.4% P greater than 0.2). The sensitivity of the atropine test in the patients of the 1st group was 76.3%. The test specificity was 93.3%. Among the patients with coronary heart disease the atropine test specificity was much less (65.4%).