DYNAMIC VECTORCARDIOGRAPHY FOR EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION COMPARED WITH 12-LEAD ELECTROCARDIOGRAM

Background The aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of multilead continuous vectorcardiography (VCG) for early diagnosis o f acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients admitted to hospital b ecause of suspicion of AMI. VCG was compared with resting 12-lead elec trocardiogram (EGG) on admission. Methods In a multicentre study, 107 patients with chest pain (less than or equal to 12 h) were included, T he diagnosis of AMI was on the basis of World Health Organization crit eria. Continuous VCG was recorded for 12-24 h and the data were evalua ted blindly at 2 and 6 h of recording and after the completion of reco rding (12-24 h). Results AMI was diagnosed in 74 patients, The VCG rec ording had a diagnostic accuracy of 71% after 2 h and 86% after both t he 6 h and the completed VCG recording. Compared with ECG on admission , the VCG recording after 6 h showed a significantly greater sensitivi ty: 86% compared with 62% (P < 0.01). In patients with non-diagnostic ECG on arrival (n = 55), VCG after 6 h had a diagnostic accuracy of 85 %, a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 89%. Conclusions VCG migh t be useful for early diagnosis of AMI, especially in patients with no n-diagnostic EGG.