Effect of somatic factors on the mental state of patients who have had an acute myocardial infarct
Zaĭtsev, V.P.; Khramelashvili, V.V.; Nikolaeva, L.F.
Kardiologiia 23(1): 86-89
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-9040 PMID: 6834688 Document Number: 202445
Patients who have survived 3 and more myocardial infarctions (MI) were found to exhibit psychopathologic symptoms twice as frequently as compared to patients with a history of 1-2 MIs. It is the duration (over 5 years) of angina pectoris or arterial hypertension, rather than mere presence of these diseases that appears to be essential for the development of anxiety and depression. Psychopathologic manifestations were about twice as frequent following life-threatening complications (shock, cardiac arrest, repeat MI) during the acute stage of infarction, as compared to uncomplicated clinical course of the disease. Possible causes underlying the established relationship are analysed. The more advantageous approaches to the study of psychosomatic cause--effect relationships in coronary disease are discussed.