Associations between ECG changes and echocardiographic findings in patients with acute non-ST elevation myocardial infarction

Electrocardiogram changes as predictors for new imaging findings in repeat transthoracic echocardiography

Aim: To determine if electrocardiogram (EKG) findings may be a useful tool to predict changes in repeat transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). Methods: We evaluated patients who underwent TTE during hospitalization and their EKGs, and whether findings differed between studies. Results: Of 229 hospitalized patients who underwent repeat TTE, 183 (80%) were abnormal. Each minor and major EKG abnormality resulted in a 1.8 (1.2 to 2.6; p = 0.002) and 2.1 (1.3 to 3.3; p < 0.001) increased odds of abnormal imaging on TTE, respectively. The negative likelihood ratio for an unchanged EKG to predict an unchanged TTE was 0.68 (95% CI = 0.62 to 0.73). Conclusion: Among hospitalized patients with prior imaging results, an unchanged EKG predicts an unchanged TTE.

Culprit lesion detection in patients presenting with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome and multivessel disease

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

Identification of the culprit lesion in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) allows appropriate coronary revascularization but may be unclear in patients with multivessel coronary disease (MVD). Therefore, we investigated the rate of culprit lesion identification during coronary angiography in NSTE-ACS and multivessel disease.

METHODS/MATERIALS

Consecutive patients presenting with NSTE-ACS and MVD, between January 2012 and December 2016 were evaluated. Coronary angiograms, intravascular imaging, and ECGs were analyzed for culprit lesion identification. Long-term clinical outcomes in terms of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and mortality were reported in patients with or without culprit identification.

RESULTS

A total of 1107 patients with NSTE-ACS and MVD were included in the analysis, 310 (28.0%) with unstable angina and 797 (72.0%) with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. The culprit lesion was angiographically identified in 952 (86.0%) patients, while no clear culprit lesion was found in 155 (14.0%) patients. ECG analysis allowed to predict the location of the culprit vessel with low sensitivity (range 28.4%-36.7%) and high specificity (range 90.6%-96.5%). Higher lesion complexity was associated with inability to identify the culprit. Intravascular imaging was applied in 55 patients and helped to identify the culprit lesion in 53 patients (96.4%). There was no difference in all-cause mortality (21.4% vs. 25.8%, p = 0.24) and MACE (39.2% vs. 47.6%, p = 0.07) between the cohorts with or without culprit lesion identification by angiography.

CONCLUSIONS

The culprit lesion appeared unclear by coronary angiography in >10% of patients with NSTE-ACS and MVD. Complementary invasive imaging substantially enhanced the diagnostic accuracy of culprit lesion detection.

A de Winter electrocardiographic pattern caused by left main coronary artery occlusion: A case report

A de Winter electrocardiographic (ECG) pattern comprising precordial junctional ST depression followed by tall, positive symmetrical T waves in leads V1/V2 to V4/V6 is often concomitant with ST elevation in lead aVR. This finding strongly suggests proximal left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion. We described a patient who had the de Winter ECG pattern in leads V2 to V4 by acute left main coronary artery (LMCA) occlusion. The ECG also showed maximal ST depression in leads V4 to V5 and inverted T waves in leads V5 to V6. This finding indicated a global subendocardial ischemia ECG pattern, which suggested LMCA or three-vessel disease. Early recognition of this ECG manifestation is important for averting a disastrous prognosis in acute LMCA occlusion because emergent coronary intervention may be life-saving.

Electrocardiographic identification of the culprit coronary artery in acute non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction: predictive value of N-wave and T-wave precordial instability

BACKGROUND

Recently, novel ischemic electrocardiographic changes have been described, which may be clinically significant in the identification of the culprit coronary vessel in patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). We sought to determine the predictive value of N-wave, T-wave precordial instability, de-Winter ST/T-wave complex, and inferolateral myocardial infarction in the identification of the culprit artery in patients with NSTEMI referred for early invasive (<24 h) treatment.

METHODS

A total of 148 patients with NSTEMI, aged 40-91 years, were enrolled from a cohort of 510 consecutive NSTEMI subjects, hospitalized in our center in 2015-2017.

RESULTS

Of the evaluated ischemic ECG changes, the most common finding in patients with culprit left circumflex (LCx)/obtuse marginal artery or right coronary artery was T-wave precordial instability (28.3 and 13.5%, respectively), whereas in individuals with culprit left anterior descending/diagonal artery, T-wave precordial instability and N-wave in leads II, III or aVF occurred equally often (16.0%). A significant relationship was found between the occurrence of N-wave in inferolateral leads and culprit LCx/obtuse marginal. In multivariable analysis, N-wave in lead aVL [odds ratio (OR) 2.10; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15-3.81], and T-wave precordial instability (OR 1.56; 95% CI, 1.02-2.41) were independent predictors of culprit LCx/obtuse marginal. The accuracy of N-wave in lead aVL in predicting the culprit LCx/obtuse marginal was 73.9% and was higher than the accuracy of T-wave precordial instability, which was 69.1%.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with NSTEMI referred for early invasive treatment, the presence of N-wave or T-wave precordial instability may be of greater clinical importance in the prediction of culprit LCx/obtuse marginal than classic ischemic changes.