[Accelerated idioventricular rhythm in acute myocardial infarct]

Abstract

A continuous (for 24 hours) ECG recording on a magnetic tape with its subsequent decodification on a special analyser was performed in 31 patients with acute myocardial infarction during the 1st day of the onset of the disease in order to reveal an accelerated idioventricular rhythm and ventricular tachycardia. An accelerated idioventricular rhythm was found to occur within the 1st and early during the 2nd day of the disease in 29% of the patients. The importance of some factors, that of the sinus rhythm rate in particular, was studied with reference to the development of an accelerated idioventricular rhythm. The causes of its development are discussed, as well as those of its disappearance, interrelationship with ventricular tachycardia, and the prognostic importance of the accelerated idioventricular rhythm recorded throughout a 3-month observation and its place in the differential diagnosis in acute myocardial infarction.