Study Objective: The diagnostic performance of T-wave amplitudes for the detection of myocardial infarction is largely unknown. We aimed to address this knowledge gap.
Methods: T-wave amplitudes were automatically measured in 12-lead ECGs of patients presenting with acute chest discomfort to the emergency department within a prospective diagnostic multicenter study. The final diagnosis was centrally adjudicated by 2 independent cardiologists. Patients with left ventricular hypertrophy, complete left bundle branch block, or paced ventricular depolarization were excluded. The performance for lead-specific 95th-percentile thresholds were reported as likelihood ratios (lr), specificity, and sensitivity.
Results: Myocardial infarction was the final diagnosis in 445 (18%) of 2457 patients. In most leads, T-wave amplitudes tended to be greater in patients without myocardial infarction than those with myocardial infarction, and T-wave amplitude exceeding the 95th percentile had positive and negative lr close to 1 or with confidence intervals (CIs) crossing 1. The exceptions were leads III, aVR, and V1, which had positive lrs of 3.8 (95% CI, 2.7 to 5.3), 4.3 (95% CI, 3.1 to 6.0) and 2.0 (95% CI, 1.4 to 2.9), respectively. These leads normally have inverted T waves, so T-wave amplitude exceeding the 95th percentile reflects upright rather than increased-amplitude hyperacute T waves.
Conclusion: Hyperacute T waves, when defined as increased T-wave amplitude exceeding the 95th percentile, did not provide useful information in diagnosing myocardial infarction in this sample.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2022.12.003 | DOI Listing |
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