[Clinical use of the apex carotid diagram in mitral stenosis]

Apex-carotid diagram (ACD) is a new mechanic-cardiographic method, consisting in integration of carotis-sphygmogram and apex-cardiogram in one diagram. In the present work, 121 patients with mitral stenosis were examined. ACD in mitral stenosis is characterized by an extension of the field of ventricle filling (p less than 0.05) and diminished angle alpha' (p less than 0.001). A reliable correlation was established between the values of angle alpha' and the mean pressure in the left ventricle r = -0.88, p less than 0.001 with a standard deviation of +/- mm Hg.