Journal of electrocardiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
ST-segment deviation on the admission electrocardiogram, treatment strategy, and outcome in non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes A substudy of the Invasive versus Conservative Treatment in Unstable coronary Syndromes (ICTUS) Trial.
We assessed the prognostic significance of the presence of cumulative (Sigma) ST-segment deviation on the admission electrocardiogram (ECG) in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome and an elevated troponin T randomized to a selective invasive (SI) or an early invasive treatment strategy. ⋯ Patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome and an elevated troponin T and SigmaST-segment deviation of at least 1 mm are at increased risk of death or MI, more often fail on medical therapy, and more often experience a spontaneous MI after discharge when angiography was not performed during initial hospitalization.
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Review Meta Analysis
Time to reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction. It is time to reduce it!
Mortality from ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction remains high, with most deaths occurring before hospital admission. Despite effective pre- and in-hospital reperfusion strategies becoming standard over the past 2 decades, time-to-admission and time-to-treatment remain prolonged. We reviewed temporal trends in these times in published clinical trials. ⋯ Time-to-admission and time-to-treatment for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction are still prolonged. Resources should be directed to early recognition of the acute myocardial infarction, improved utilization of emergency services for transportation, and prehospital diagnosis and triaging. Ambulances equipped with wireless capability to transmit electrocardiograms to the on-call cardiologist seem to be promising tools to achieve earlier diagnosis and triaging with high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.
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Reference ranges for electrocardiogram (ECG) intervals, heart rate, and QRS axis in general use by medical personnel and ECG readers are unrepresentative of true age- and sex-related values in large populations and are not based on modern electrocardiographic and ECG reading technology. ⋯ We observed large differences in electrocardiographic heart rate, interval, and axis reference ranges in this study compared with those reported previously and with reference ranges in general use. We also observed a large influence of age and sex upon normal values. Very large cohorts are required to fully assess age- and sex-related variation of reference ranges. Electrocardiographic reference ranges should be modernized.
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A case of a 55-year-old man who suffered an acute anterior myocardial infarction (MI) followed by an acute inferoposterior MI 1 month later, which led to his demise from cardiogenic shock, is presented. The electrocardiogram after his second MI resulted in profound decrease in the amplitude of the QRS complexes and cancellation of the features of the previous anterior MI (necrotic QRS counterpoise). The implications of these electrocardiogram alterations, particularly when using this modality in QRS scoring systems for estimation of infarct size or left ventricular function, are discussed.