Differences in the prognostic value of the electrocardiographic pattern after cardiac resynchronization therapy according to age.

Objectives: In this cohort study, we analyzed if a specific pattern in three leads of the electrocardiogram (Rs in V1, Qr in aVL, or rS in I) was associated with outcomes after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) depending on age.

Methods: Patients with CRT devices were included from January 2012 to April 2019. We divided the sample into 2 groups, those with age ≥ 75 years old and those younger.

Differentiation of athlete's heart and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by the fractal dimension of left ventricular trabeculae.

Background: Differentiation between exercise induced adaptive myocardial hypertrophy (athlete's heart) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is currently based on echocardiographic and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) criteria, but these may be insufficient in patients with subtle phenotype expression. This study aimed to assess whether left ventricular (LV) fractal pattern could permit to differentiate athlete's heart from HCM.

Methods: We recruited retrospectively 61 elite marathon runners, 67 patients with HCM, and 33 healthy subjects.