MYOCARDIAL ISCHAEMIA AND SPINAL ANALGESIA IN PATIENTS WITH ANGINA PECTORIS

We have studied prospectively myocardial ischaemic events by Holter monitoring of ST-segment depression in patients with angina pectoris given spinal analgesia for minor surgery compared with a reference day of normal daily activities. Monitoring was undertaken continuously for 24 h on both days, starting just before anaesthesia on the day of surgery. On the reference day, seven of 14 patients had 27 ischaemic events with mean max ST-depression of 0.15 mV and total duration of 143 min, compared with 10 of 14 patients with 70 ischaemic events with mean max ST-depression of 0.22 mV and total duration of 1078 min (P