[The application of hemodynamic examination in psychiatry]

The authors discuss the most modern non-invasive methods for the examination of the circulatory system and consider the opportunity of their application in psychiatry. They refer to the results of their earlier studies on the some selected parameters of the circulatory system by means of radiocardiography i.e. Total Peripheral Resistance Index (TPRI), Heart Rate (HR), Arterial Blood Pressure (AP) and the Stroke Index (SI). It follows from the results that such examinations are appropriate mainly in patients with endogenous depression and may contribute to an increased safety factor in the treatment with tricyclic antidepressants. Among the methods which could contribute to the better evaluation of the state of the circulatory system (especially on contraction in the left ventricle of the heart and peripheral resistance) in depressive patients, phonocardiography, mechanocardiography and Doppler echo sounding cardiography are enumerated. Haemodynamic examinations turned out to be useful in predictions of the somatic tolerance of tricyclic antidepressants and to be helpful in understanding the reason for several complains involving the circulatory system in patients with endogenous depression. Two groups of patients: psychomotorically retarded and excited (with high intensity of anxiety) who differ from each other in the haemodynamic parameters are discriminated. This paper points out the necessity for the control of the circulatory system in these patients by means of modern non-invasive methods and is in agreement with the holistic attitude towards a patient.