The skinny on wide QRS complexes

The presence of widened QRS complexes in a life insurance applicant's electrocardiogram may be due to such things as an intraventricular conduction defect, preexcitation syndrome, left ventricular hypertrophy, ventricular pacing, hyperkalemia and a ventricular rhythm. Clinical information and basic electrocardiogram interpretation techniques can usually narrow the differential diagnosis. Risk assessment of intraventricular conduction defects requires identification of typical electrocardiographic patterns followed by a careful search for additional electrocardiographic features, which may indicate the presence of more extensive conducting system disease and/or coexisting disease affecting the myocardium.