Clinical study
Natural course of the S-T segment and QRS complex in patients with acute anterior myocardial infarction

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Abstract

Sums of the S-T segment elevation from the 35 lead precordial electrocardiographic map (∑ST35) and Standard 6 lead precordial electrocardiogram (∑ST6) were obtained from 20 patients after acute anterior myocardial infarction and the calculations repeated 2, 4, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 240 hours later. Q and R wave areas were summed (∑Q35, ∑Q6, ∑R35 and ∑R6). ∑ST35 and ∑ST6 values decreased significantly in patients without pericarditis 7 to 12 hours after the onset of symptoms (P < 0.02), but increased significantly from these reduced values 25 to 48 hours after the onset of symptoms. An increase in ∑ST35 and ∑ST6 (P < 0.05) occurred 13 to 24 hours after the onset of symptoms in four patients with pericarditis before a pericardial rub was heard. No significant change in ∑Q35 occurred from the initial to the final map study; a decrease in ∑R35 (P < 0.02) occurred only in a group of patients studied at or before 5 hours after initial symptoms. No correlation was found between the initial level of S-T segment elevation and subsequent change in Q or R wave areas except in two patients whose initial electrocardiographic studies were performed at or within 5 hours of initial symptoms. Good correlation was found between ∑ST35 and ∑ST6 (r = +0.906, P < 0.001), ∑Q35 and ∑Q6 (r = +0.864, P < 0.001), and ∑R35 and ∑R6 (r = +0.903, P < 0.001). The course of the S-T segment and QRS complex after anterior myocardial infarction depends on the time of study after initial symptoms. The Standard 6 lead precordial electrocardiogram may offer a practical alternative to the 35 lead map for patients with anterior myocardial infarction.

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    This study was supported in part by a Research Fellowship Grant from the Geresee Valley Heart Association, Rochester, New York and by Grant HL 05500 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

    Present address: Cardiology Division, Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital, Los Angeles, California.

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