The electrocardiogram in the aged

A review of the electrocardiogram in the aged and the comparison of prevalence of ECG abnormalities in the young and aged suggest that: 1. The same criteria for normal ECG should be applied to both groups. Some minor changes in advancing age can be accepted as normal and reflecting physiologic changes attending growth, changes in anteroposterior diameter of the chest and lung volume, and so on. 2. The abnormal ECG is most likely a marker of anatomic heart disease or clinical heart disease, or both. 3. The incidence of abnormal electrocardiograms increases with age and heart disease. 4. The specific ECG abnormalities which have a high degree of correlation with clinically evident heart disease include atrial fibrillation, left bundle branch block, intraventricular conduction defects, and ST segment and T wave changes. 5. Myocardial infarction, left anterior hemiblock and right bundle branch block did not correlate with presence of clinical disease, but strong evidence suggests that these findings reflect anatomic disease.