[Analysis of the electrocardiographic findings in 288 patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism].

Objective: To research variety orderliness of electrocardiogram in patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism (PET).

Method: 288 patients with first episode of acute PET were included in the study: There were 136 patients with massive and sub massive PTE (group A) and 152 with non-massive PET (group B). Thrombolytic agents were used for patients in group A and anticoagulant agents for those in group B. The electrocardiographic patterns of these patients were observed on 6 time points during the course. The rate of electrocardiographic abnormalities and differences between groups were analyzed.

Result: A high rate of S(I)Q(III)T(III) change was observed, 32.4% (44/136) in group A and 21.7% (33/152) in group B. Q(III), T(III), and S(I)T(III) were also very common. Negative T-waves in precordial leads were present in 77.8% (105/136) of patients in group A, and 52.0% (79/152) in group B. The amplitude of R(aVR) and S(V5) was decreased gradually and regularly after treatment. The highest rate of left axis deviation was 47.06% in group A and 30.26% in group B, the difference being significant between the 2 groups. The occurrence of right axis deviation was lower, 16.2% (22/136) in group A and 15.1% (23/152) in group B, with no significant difference.

Conclusion: The electrocardiographic findings were useful in the early diagnosis of PTE.