[An alternative method for the diagnosis of an anterosuperior hemiblock].
OBJECTIVE
To develop and validate a rapid method for diagnosing superior anterior hemiblock, comparing it with the system seen as standard.


METHODS
Comparison study of two diagnostic tests.


METHODS
Urban health centre.


METHODS
Adult population with prior diagnosis of superior anterior hemiblock included in a computer file of clinical records.


RESULTS
The presence or otherwise of superior anterior hemiblock was found by applying the standard criteria for electrocardiograms contained in the clinical records of the participating patients. The proposed test was then applied by finding the precise cardiac axis and the confirmation or rejection of the diagnosis of superior anterior hemiblock. Out of the 121 histories analysed, 40 had superior anterior hemiblock according to the standard criteria, and 81 did not. The system proposed detected 38 of the 40 hemiblock cases, 95% sensitivity, and rejected as normal 76 of the 81 electrocardiograms without superior anterior hemiblock according to the standard pattern, specificity of 93.8%.


CONCLUSIONS
Superior anterior hemiblock can be diagnosed by an alternative method which was quicker than the standard pattern, so markedly simplifying the analysis of this feature of the electrocardiogram.
Iglesias Bonilla
P
P
Centro de Salud Universitario San Pablo, Sevilla. pabloib@ole.com
Mayoral Sánchez
E
E
Lapetra Peralta
J
J
Cayuela Domínguez
A
A
Santos Lozano
J M
JM
Iborra Oquendo
M
M
D000328:Adult; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006327:Heart Block / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity