• Kaushang Gandhi, Wilbert S Aronow, Harit Desai, Chandrasekar Palaniswamy, Tarunjit Singh, Harshad Amin, Mala Sharma, and Hoang M Lai.
• Department of Medicine, Cardiology Division, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA.
• Med. Sci. Monit. 2010 Dec 1; 16 (12): CR588-92.

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of a planar QRS-T angle >90° in patients with ischemic stroke versus transient ischemic attack (TIA).Material/MethodsIn a prospective study of 279 consecutive patients who had ischemic stroke (197 patients) or TIA (82 patients), the planar QRS-T angle was measured from a 12-lead electrocardiogram taken at the time of the stroke or TIA. All QRS-T angle measurements were made by 3 authors who agreed on the measurements and who were blinded to the clinical findings. A QRS-T angle >90° was considered abnormal.ResultsThe mean age was 66±6 years in patients with ischemic stroke versus 62±6 years in patients with TIA (p=0.04). The mean body mass index and the prevalence of gender, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and coronary artery disease were not significantly different between patients with ischemic stroke versus TIA. A QRS-T angle >90° was present in 55 of 197 patients (28%) with ischemic stroke and in 10 of 82 patients (12%) with TIA (p=0.004).ConclusionsThe prevalence of a planar QRS-T angle >90° was higher in patients with ischemic stroke than in patients with TIA (p=0.004).

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