title: Electrocardiographic left atrial enlargement--correlation with echo.
abstract: To assess the utility of electrocardiogram in identifying left atrial enlargement, electrocardiogram of 600 consecutive patients were correlated with their M-mode echocardiographic findings. Left atrial enlargement, as reflected by P terminal force in V1 had sensitivity of 79%, specificity 91%, predictive value 85% and accuracy of 86%. Patients older than 30 years with large left atrium (greater than 5.0 cm) had atrial fibrillation more frequently than younger patients (P less than 0.001). It is concluded that P terminal force in V1 is a reliable indicator of left atrial enlargement.
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Jose
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnaswami
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Rath
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kothari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged