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Analysis of vectorgrams obtained in 85 patients aged 60-79 years with chronic pulmonary heart and 64 patients aged 30-49 years allowed this disease to be diagnosed in 90.7% of elderly and senile patients at the stage of compensation and in all cases in combination with decompensation. With aging, combined ventricular hypertrophy was found to be one of the most typical features of chronic pulmonary heart. This was evidenced by vector cardiography in 79.1-88.9% of the examinees from different groups. A complex of the most informative VCG signs of chronic pulmonary heart was proposed for patients from various age groups. For more rapid recognition of chronic pulmonary heart, a rapid VCG diagnostic technique was developed and recommended for the disease. By using a regression analysis, a mathematical model of VCG diagnosis was constructed for chronic pulmonary heart in elderly and senile patients.

In vivo effects of varying concentrations of propranolol on the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve, and its in vitro effects on erythrocyte energy metabolism were studied in 12 elderly and old coronary patients. An 80 mg oral dose of propranolol evoked a significant shift to the right in the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve due to a decrease in blood pH (Bohr's effect) and, according to in vitro evidence, the release of membrane-bound ATP and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate. As a result, propranolol improved blood oxygen release in tissue capillaries, as evidenced by elevated pO2 in subcutaneous fat.

Renin activity in blood plasma was studied by the radioimmune method in healthy persons and in hypertensive disease patients of various ages. It was found that this index diminishes with age in physiological ageing. The increase in the sensitivity of the ageing body to humoral agents, angiotensin among others, evidently compensates for the qualitative deficiency of the hormone. The results obtained provide evidence that the renal pressor mechanism is involved in the pathogenesis of late hypertensive disease at an earlier stage, which is probably due to the age preconditions, particularly the diminished intensity of intrarenal circulation, relative sympathicotonia at elderly and old age, and features of the electrolyte metabolism. The early activation of the renin--angiotensin system in the late stages of hypertensive disease should determine specified pathogenetic treatment of this disease in old age.

Changes in some general indices characterizing activity of the blood fibrinolytic system (FS) and some factors of the activating and inhibiting links of the system under the effect of tolerant exercise were studied in healthy young and elderly persons and in elderly patients with ischemic heart disease. It is shown that with aging the mechanisms regulating FS activity under conditions of exercise diminish and the force of its reaction and the rate of restorative processes decrease. Development of coronary atherosclerosis in the presence of age changes causes functional insufficiency of FS manifested by the absence of its marked response in threshold exercise.

The sensitivity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) to regulatory sympathoadrenal and hypothalamo-pituitary effects was shown to increase with advancing age, in spite of declining plasma renin and aldosterone baselines. At the same time, this humoral mechanism was no longer capable of responding as adequately to potent stimuli, such as submaximum physical stress. The data obtained suggest that the RASS might act as a trigger mechanism underlying a greater incidence of essential hypertension in old age.

The results subsequent to investigations of morphological and functional peculiarities specific for cutaneous capillary circulation in the nailbed of hand and foot fingers of practically healthy young individuals (18--30 years old) and physiologically ageing persons (aged over 60) are reported. In ageing of humans there is demonstrable fading and opacification of the capillaroscopic field of vision background, flattening out of the papillary layer, diminution in the number of functioning capillaries per unit of the skin surface, the presence of non-vascularized zones, the development of intercapillary autoanastomoses and of the subpapillary venous plexus, lengthening of arterial and venous capillary branches, prevalence of spastico-atonic and spastic forms of the capillary loops, slowing down and granular nature of the capillary blood flow. With growing age there become evident a reduction of functioning reserve capillaries, a depression of the skin capillaries sensitivity to the neural effects (heat and cold) and its increase to humoral (adrenalin, histamine, acetylcholine and hypophysin ones. The mechanism behind the said phenomena in ageing is considered. The data obtained are of significance in studying the mechanisms underlying the ageing of the organs and tissues, the understanding of age-specific features of the pathogenesis, evolution and treatment of a number of affections involving the cardiovascular system in persons of advanced and senile age.