title: Directionality and proportionality of the ST and ventricular gradient difference vectors during acute ischemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ECG is important in diagnosis and triage in the initial phase of the acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The primary goal of making an ECG at first medical contact should be the reliable detection of cardiac ischemia, thus facilitating a correct triage by corroborating the diagnosis of ACS. Ischemia detection by ST amplitude analysis is limited to situations in which there is an identifiable J point. The ventricular gradient (VG) is independent of conduction and might be an alternative ECG-based variable for ischemia detection.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied vectorcardiograms (VCGs) synthesized of the ECGs of 67 patients who underwent elective PTCA with prolonged balloon occlusions (mean±SD occlusion duration 214±77s), and computed, during occlusions, the changes of the ST and VG vectors with respect to baseline, ΔST and ΔVG, and the angle between these vectors, ∠(ΔST, ΔVG). We then analyzed directionality and proportionality of ΔST and ΔVG by performing linear regressions of ∠(ΔST, ΔVG) on time after occlusion, and of ΔVG on ΔST, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Linear regression of ∠(ΔST, ΔVG) on time after occlusion yielded a slope of 1.55*10(-3) °/s and an intercept of 11.96°; r(2)<0.001 (NS). Linear regression of ΔVG on ΔST on all data yielded a slope of 253mV and an intercept of 14.4mV•ms; r(2)=0.75 (P<0.001). Broken stick linear regression (breakpoint ΔST=0.255mV) yielded slopes of 330mV and 160mV, intercepts of 5.6mV•ms and 47.2mV•ms, and r(2) values of 0.66 (P<0.001) and 0.63 (P<0.001) for the smaller and larger ΔST values, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that, because of the directionality and proportionality between ΔST and ΔVG, the change in the ventricular gradient, ΔVG, between a reference ECG and an ischemic ECG is a meaningful measure of ischemia.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C Cato
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: ter Haar
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arie C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Maan
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Schalij
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address: c.a.swenne@lumc.nl.
authors.forename: Cees A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Swenne
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D016880:Anisotropy; D005260:Female; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014672:Vectorcardiography / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Acute coronary syndrome; ECG; Ischemia; ST amplitude; Ventricular gradient