The Nickerson Ballistocardiogram in Arteriosclerotic Heart Disease with and without Congestive Failure

Comparison of ballistocardiograms in patients with arteriosclerotic heart disease with those of normal subjects, young and old, with regard to the various time relationships of the I and J waves, as well as the IJ amplitude, reveals increasingly frequent abnormality in age as compared with youth, in arteriosclerotic heart failure as opposed to heart disease. Certain characteristics of the ballistic pattern in heart failure are noted, and these are modified to some extent by therapy. Serial studies indicate a peak increase in ballistic amplitude with diuresis which may not be sustained.