Significance of fragmented QRS complexes for identifying culprit lesions in patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction: a single-center, retrospective analysis of 183 cases

BMC Cardiovascular Disorders

Weimin Li¹  Kai Tang¹  Yawei Xu¹  Yuanmin Li¹  Rong Guo¹ 

[1] Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200072, China

关键词: Electrocardiogram;    Acute coronary syndrome;    Coronary artery disease;    Fragmented QRS complexes;   

Others  :  1084878
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2261-12-44

 received in 2011-10-11, accepted in 2012-06-19,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Fragmented QRS (fQRS) complexes are novel electrocardiographic signals, which reflect myocardial conduction delays in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The importance of fQRS complexes in identifying culprit vessels was evaluated in this retrospective study.

Methods

A 12-lead surface electrocardiogram was obtained in 183 patients who had non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and subsequently underwent coronary angiography (CAG). On the basis of the frequency of fQRS complexes, indices such as sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and likelihood ratio were evaluated to determine the ability of fQRS complexes to identify the culprit vessels.

Results

Among the patients studied, elderly patients (age ≥ 65 years) and those with diabetes had a significantly higher frequency of fQRS complexes (p = 0.005, p = 0.003, respectively). The fQRS complexes recorded in the 4 precordial leads had the highest specificity (81.8%) for indentifying the culprit vessel (left anterior descending artery). However, the specificity of fQRS complexes to identify lesions in the left circumflex and right coronary arteries was lower for the inferior and lateral leads than for the limb leads (65.5% versus 71.7%); however, the limb leads had higher sensitivity (92.3% versus 89.4%). And the total sensitivity and specificity of fQRS (77.1% and 71.5%) were higher than those values for ischemic T-waves.

Conclusions

The frequency of fQRS complexes was higher in elderly and diabetic patients with NSTEMI. The frequency of fQRS complexes recorded in each of the ECG leads can be used to identify culprit vessels in patients with NSTEMI.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Guo et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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