title: Q waves and coronary artery disease.
abstract: In a consecutive series of 234 patients admitted for selective coronary arteriography, 78 had pathological Q waves. In 32 of these 78 patients, ECG showed left ventricular hypertrophy, QRS duration of greater than or equal to 0.12 sec, incomplete left bundle branch block, or left axis deviation. Fourteen (44%) of these 32 patients had coronary artery disease (CAD), while 40 (87%) of the remaining 46 patients without these ECG changes had CAD (p less than 0.0005). Among the 46 patients, 34 of 35 with angina pectoris had CAD compared to 6 of 11 without angina pectoris (p less than 0.01). Our study thus shows that Q waves may be reliable predictors of CAD especially in patients with angina pectoris.
mesh_terms: D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000503:physiopathology; D002037:Bundle-Branch Block / Q000175:diagnosis; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000175:diagnosis; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged