[Study of ectopic cardiac activity under the effect of psychological stress]

Mental and emotional load consisting of several psychological tests was used in 35 patients with ischemic heart disease to disclose hazardous and latent forms of disorders of cardiac rhythm as possible forewarning of sudden death and to study the role of the psychological factor and stress situation in their origin. The reaction of extopic myocardial activity to the load proved different. In distinction to patients with functional cardiovascular disorders, patients with organic affections of the myocardium responded to the load by the appearance of extrasystoles during the load or by their greated frequency. In patients with functional cardiovascular disorders there was mostly a decrease in the number of initial extrasystoles and in some cases their total disappearance.