RSS Feeds
The Prognostic Importance of the Electrocardiogram After Myocardial Infarction
Experience in the Coronary Drug Project
- THE CORONARY DRUG PROJECT RESEARCH GROUP
Abstract
Findings in the resting electrocardiograms of 2035 men, survivors of myocardial infarction in the placebo-treated group of the Coronary Drug Project, were related to the subsequent risk of death over a 3-year follow-up period. Ambulant postinfarct patients with a normal ECG had one third the mortality risk of those with residual ECG findings. Electrocardiographic manifestations of myocardial hypoxia, necrosis, conduction defects, and superexcitability were importantly related to the risk of dying. An ST-segment depression of the "ischemic" type was the most important independent risk predictor of all clinical and ECG findings studied. Both simple and multivariate analyses showed independent prognostic importance for classes of ST-segment depression, Q waves, ventricular conduction defects, atrial fibrillation, ventricular premature beats, and several detailed amplitude measurements, providing information additional to the clinical status. The ECG findings in infarct survivors effectively discriminate between men with vastly different risk and contribute to prediction of the probability of dying in a given period.
Article and Author Information
-
▸This report was prepared by Henry Blackburn, M.D., Professor and Director, Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene, School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn., and Suketami Tominaga, M.D., Research Associate Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
-
Fully supported by research grants and other funds from the National Heart and Lung Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
-
▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. Henry Blackbum, Professor and Director, Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene, University of Minnesota Stadium Gate 27, Minneapolis, Minn. 55455.
-
- Received March 24, 1972.
- Accepted April 1, 1972.
Related Clinical Content
