[The action of nitroglycerine on digitalis induced ST depression in patients with coronary disease (author's transl)].
The influence of therapeutic digitalisation on ST depression due to myocardial ischemia was investigated in 11 patients, average age 53.6 years, with coronary heart disease, compared with the effectiveness of nitroglycerine. Therapeutic digitalis led to an average increase of ischaemic ST depression from -0.53 to -0.73 mV. The mean pulmonary arterial and pulmonary capillary pressure decreased slightly, the frequency of pectanginous attacks increased. Independent of the digitalis effect nitroglycerine had an opposing action on these parameters. In decompensated patients with coronary heart disease (n = 4) both digitalis and nitroglycerine produced a shift of the left ventricular function curve as an expression of improved cardiac action. This could not be observed in patients with compensated ventricular function (n = 7). In sufficient ventricular function digitalis led to a further increase of myocardial ischaemic ST depression. In ventricular insufficiency no uniform behaviour was apparent. ST depression induced by digitalis could be reversibly influenced by nitroglycerine.