[Cardiac arrhythmias and other complications in patients after myocardial infarction during a long term training...

In 85 patients with myocardial infarction undergoing a physical training on a bicycle ergometer 3 times a week over a period of 18 months beginning 5 weeks after the acute infarction, telemetric and haemodynamic investigations were made. The telemetry was done during ergometer training, dynamic and isometric gymnastics and during work at home. The diastolic pulmonary arterial pressure under exercise was registered in 43 patients before the beginning of the training program; in 16 of these patients a control heart catheterization was made after a training period of 4 months. During the ergometer training program 32% of all patients had ventricular premature beats more than 1:10, 6% had paroxysmal ventricular tachycardias, 1 patient had supraventricular tachycardias and 1 patient died at home after having a tachycardia of unknown origin. During dynamic or isometric gymnastics or under work at home the patients had not more arrhythmias than in the telemetric controls during the ergometer training. Arrhythmias and other complications are very often found in patients with high diastolic pulmonary arterial pressure in the exercise test.