Ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac hemodynamics in patients with myocardial infarction. Comparison of the acute and post-hospitalization phases.

Sixty-six patients with myocardial infarction (MI) were studied during the acute hospital phase and during the six months after hospital discharge. The clinical characteristics, location of infarction, and data from right heart catheterization were studied in an attempt to determine what factors were associated with ventricular rhythm disturbance. Those patients with serious ventricular arrhythmias (SVA) in the acute phase of infarction were found to have a significantly greater degree of myocardial dysfunction as measured by pulmonary artery and pulmonary wedge pressure than patients with more normal rhythm (p less than .05). Clinical classification of patients and location of infarction were not helpful in predicting SVA during the acute infarction period. Knowledge of hemodynamic data, presence of SVA and clinical characteristics in the acute infarction period were of no value in predicting the occurrence of SVA after hospital discharge patients having had an acute diaphragmatic infarction were found to have a higher incidence of SVA after hospital discharge.