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In the presence of previous myocardial infarction, the direct ballistocardiogram is abnormal in approximately 80 per cent of the cases. Following the coronary occlusion, a normal ballistocardiogram is relatively rare in patients with angina pectoris as compared with those who are asymptomatic. There is no correlation between the ballistocardiographic patterns and the persistence of electrocardiographic evidence of myocardial infarction. The prognostic significance of the ballistic findings reported will be determined by long-term follow-up studies.

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Patients with functional cardiac disturbances, including chest pain, may present electrocardiographic abnormalities (pronounced RS-T depressions and T-wave inversions) after the "2-step" exercise test which are indistinguishable from those found in organic heart disease. Ergotamine tartrate was employed intravenously in conjunction with "2-step" tests in 10 cases for the objective differentiation of functional from organic heart involvement. However, ergotamine was found to be contraindicated as a routine for this purpose because of its anginal-provoking properties. We have substituted dihydroergecornine (DHO-180), a newer, safer ergot alkaloid, in our further investigation of this problem.