Old tools for sophisticated diagnosis: electrocardiography for the assessment of myocardial viability.
The identification of residual myocardial viability in patients with a previous myocardial infarction has important clinical implications. Various methods have been developed for the detection of viable myocardium, however most of them are expensive and available only to high-tech centers. In the attempt to obtain reliable information at a low cost, exercise-ECG has been proposed as a useful technique. The results of a series of studies show that ST segment elevation and ventricular arrhythmias elicited by exercise are reliable signs of the presence of reversible myocardial damage.
Margonato
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Division of Cardiology, Istituto Scientifico Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy.
Chierchia
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D004562:Electrocardiography; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D014022:Tissue Survival; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon