title: Late potentials in the acute phase of myocardial infarction indicate the risk of early ventricular fibrillation.
abstract: Late potentials occurring at the end of or after the QRS complex were recorded from the body surface by means of a high-gain ECG and the signal-averaging technique in 75 patients, within 24 h from the onset of symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. Late potentials were found in 20 patients (26.7%). Out of this group, eight (40%) developed ventricular fibrillation. There was only one incident of ventricular fibrillation among 55 patients without late potentials (1.8%, P less than 0.001). The three-month mortality after myocardial infarction was slightly higher in individuals with late potentials: 15% vs. 11.5%, but this difference was not statistically significant. We conclude that the presence of late potentials recorded in the acute phase of myocardial infarction indicates a risk of ventricular fibrillation, but this was not associated with an increased mortality rate during the three-month follow-up.
authors.affiliation: II Department of Cardiology, Grochowski Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dłuzniewski
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kułakowski
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Senatorski
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ceremuzyński
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006342:Heart Rupture, Post-Infarction / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012306:Risk; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*