One llundlred patients, who had survived their first episode of myocaidial infarction, were studied by serial ballistocardiograims which provided a reliable index in determining myocardial functional recovery. The degree of ballistocardiographic reversion toward normal, as judged by an 1S-month or longer follow-up period, has provedl to be a valuable standard for prognosis. THBE BALLISTOCARtDIOGRAPHIC filudillgs in acute myocardial infarction were first completely described by Starr.' With rare exceptions, these variations from the normal pattern are the most marked to be found in clinical ballistocardiography. They recently have been restudied by various observers.25 The phenomenon of ballistocarcliographic recovery toward normal from the abnormalities of acute myocardial infarction was also described by Starr.1 It is our purpose, in this paper, to present our experiences with serial ballistocardiograms following acute myocardial infarction, in order to demonstrate their clinical value to the physician responsible for the care of the patient with this illness.The clinical study group was composed of 67 men and 33 women (table 1). The 12 fatalities in this group occurred later than six months following the onset of the myocardial infarction. The 88 surviving patients were the objects of our follow-up study for 18 months or longer. The diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction was established by the present accepted criteria.6 Subjects who had suffered a previous myocardial infarction, as well as those who did not survive more than six months, were excluded from the study. The 100 cases of acute myocardial infarction were subjected to serial ballistocardiographic stud-
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