Thresholds in the relationship between mortality and left ventricular hypertrophy defined by electrocardiography.

Background: Electrocardiographic criteria for the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy in current use were defined using autopsy results or echocardiography; criteria defined using mortality might be more clinically meaningful.

Methods: Using data from Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), we selected electrocardiographic measures that best differentiated those surviving at 5 years from those who did not. We identified voltage thresholds using regression techniques and then compared survival for subjects above and below the thresholds.