THE ELECTROCARDIOGRAM IN THE EXAMINATION OF THE INDUSTRIAL WORKER

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Abstract
The work record and longevity of a group of industrial workers showing ecg abnormalities were examined. Serial ecg are useful in showing alterations in cardiac mechanism, conduction and ventricular strain and in demonstrating myocardial ischemia and necrosis. The ecg were of little help in determining etiology of heart disease, of no value to prognosis or functional capacity. The records aided appreciably in reassuring the worker with inconsequential signs and symptoms, and in obtaining his cooperation for treatment or modification of working and living habits in the presence of potential or actual heart disease. Myocardial infarction is not infrequently an unrecognized episode and has a better prognosis than some hospital statistics indicate. There is no evidence in this study that physical labor or unusual effort predisposed to myocardial infarction or worsened hypertensive disease. Working capacity rests on the clinical evaluation of circulatory function and the worker''s training, not on the ecg. Under proper job placement and satisfactory mental and emotional states the prognosis of the worker with degenerative vascular disease is equal to or better than that of the man who ceases work immediately upon recognition of his disease. It is suggested that management, labor unions, industrial compensation commissions, and others who are concerned with the best use of the productive capacities of handicapped workers become better acquainted with the issues involved and the natural history of cardiovascular disease.