[Peculiar electrocardiographic findings in space medicine]

An account is given of some peculiar ECG pictures observed during two studies performed at the Air Force Aerospatial Medicine Research Centre. The first study covered in-flight heart rate recordings in trainee pilots and can be regarded as an early example of dynamic ECG, as also employed in the rehabilitation of heart patients and in sport for both diagnostic and preventive purposes. It was performed four years ago. The second study, run on subjects undergoing protracted high centrifugal acceleration, revealed: tachycardia, bradycardia, pulmonary P, repolarisation disturbances, alterations in the level of the ST segment, etc. An aetiopathogenetic assessment is made of these alterations and some personal observations are added. It is suggested that dynamic ECG could be more widely employed in experiments in this field as a powerful research tool.