ECG diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in the presence of left bundle-branch block in patients undergoing continuous ECG monitoring. 1995

F M Fesmire
Department of Emergency Medicine, Erlanger Medical Center, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Chattanooga Unit, USA.

It is common knowledge that the ECG diagnosis of completed myocardial infarction in the presence of left bundle-branch block (LBBB) is extremely difficult and often impossible. More than 50 rules have been proposed as criteria for interpreting Q-wave equivalents superimposed on the QRS complex in the presence of LBBB. However, because of misinterpretation of the available literature, physicians frequently recommend that patients with chest pain in the presence of LBBB receive thrombolytic therapy or urgent coronary arteriography on the basis of the assumption that acute injury and ischemia cannot be interpreted in the presence of LBBB. Unfortunately, many physicians fail to realize that although completed infarction is difficult to confirm in the presence of LBBB, ongoing ischemia and injury can be detected in the presence of LBBB and may be seen as often as they are in the presence of normal cardiac conduction. A deflection of the J point (and ST segment) in the direction of the major QRS complex or an elevation of the ST segment of more than 7 to 8 mm opposite the direction of the major QRS complex has been demonstrated to have a sensitivity of more than 50% in detecting acute injury, with a specificity of more than 90%. During the first half of an ongoing prospective study of the use of continuous 12-lead ECG monitoring in the emergency department, we encountered five patients with final diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction in the presence of LBBB who demonstrated significant ECG changes while undergoing continuous ST-segment monitoring with frequent serial ECGs. The five different locations of the infarcts in these five patients were posterior, posterolateral, inferior, anterior, and anterolateral. We present these patients' cases to demonstrate the ECG characteristics of acute injury in the presence of LBBB.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D008991 Monitoring, Physiologic The continuous measurement of physiological processes, blood pressure, heart rate, renal output, reflexes, respiration, etc., in a patient or experimental animal; includes pharmacologic monitoring, the measurement of administered drugs or their metabolites in the blood, tissues, or urine. Patient Monitoring,Monitoring, Physiological,Physiologic Monitoring,Monitoring, Patient,Physiological Monitoring
D009203 Myocardial Infarction NECROSIS of the MYOCARDIUM caused by an obstruction of the blood supply to the heart (CORONARY CIRCULATION). Cardiovascular Stroke,Heart Attack,Myocardial Infarct,Cardiovascular Strokes,Heart Attacks,Infarct, Myocardial,Infarction, Myocardial,Infarctions, Myocardial,Infarcts, Myocardial,Myocardial Infarctions,Myocardial Infarcts,Stroke, Cardiovascular,Strokes, Cardiovascular
D002037 Bundle-Branch Block A form of heart block in which the electrical stimulation of HEART VENTRICLES is interrupted at either one of the branches of BUNDLE OF HIS thus preventing the simultaneous depolarization of the two ventricles. Fascicular Block,Anterior Fascicular Block,Bundle Branch Block,Left Bundle-Branch Block,Posterior Fascicular Block,Right Bundle-Branch Block,Anterior Fascicular Blocks,Block, Anterior Fascicular,Block, Bundle Branch,Block, Bundle-Branch,Block, Fascicular,Block, Left Bundle-Branch,Block, Posterior Fascicular,Block, Right Bundle-Branch,Blocks, Anterior Fascicular,Blocks, Bundle Branch,Blocks, Bundle-Branch,Blocks, Fascicular,Blocks, Left Bundle-Branch,Blocks, Posterior Fascicular,Blocks, Right Bundle-Branch,Branch Block, Bundle,Branch Blocks, Bundle,Bundle Branch Blocks,Bundle-Branch Block, Left,Bundle-Branch Block, Right,Bundle-Branch Blocks,Bundle-Branch Blocks, Left,Bundle-Branch Blocks, Right,Fascicular Block, Anterior,Fascicular Block, Posterior,Fascicular Blocks,Fascicular Blocks, Anterior,Fascicular Blocks, Posterior,Left Bundle Branch Block,Left Bundle-Branch Blocks,Posterior Fascicular Blocks,Right Bundle Branch Block,Right Bundle-Branch Blocks
D004562 Electrocardiography Recording of the moment-to-moment electromotive forces of the HEART as projected onto various sites on the body's surface, delineated as a scalar function of time. The recording is monitored by a tracing on slow moving chart paper or by observing it on a cardioscope, which is a CATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAY. 12-Lead ECG,12-Lead EKG,12-Lead Electrocardiography,Cardiography,ECG,EKG,Electrocardiogram,Electrocardiograph,12 Lead ECG,12 Lead EKG,12 Lead Electrocardiography,12-Lead ECGs,12-Lead EKGs,12-Lead Electrocardiographies,Cardiographies,ECG, 12-Lead,EKG, 12-Lead,Electrocardiograms,Electrocardiographies, 12-Lead,Electrocardiographs,Electrocardiography, 12-Lead
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly

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