Quantification of ischaemia induced vulnerability by precordial T wave alternans analysis in dog and human

The aim was to examine the regional specificity of T wave alternans and the value of precordial ECG monitoring for non-invasive tracking of cardiac vulnerability during acute coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion in animals and humans.

The left ventricular ECG was monitored during two acute occlusions of the left anterior descending coronary artery and subsequent reperfusion in each of 61 chloralose anaesthetised dogs, and over 150,000 beats were analysed. In subgroups of these animals, lead II and precordial lead V5 were monitored or epicardial electrograms were recorded. In seven patients, lead II and precordial leads V1-6 were monitored during angioplasty. T wave alternans magnitude was quantified by complex demodulation. The same recording equipment and analytical methods were used in the clinical and experimental studies.

A close temporal correspondence and linear correlation was found between T wave alternans magnitude--but not ST segment depression or ventricular premature beat incidence--and the incidence of spontaneous ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation during acute coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion. Epicardial electrograms showed alternans to be regionally specific, occurring in the ischaemic but not in the normal zones, and to predict spontaneous ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia (sensitivity = 79%, specificity = 86%). A significant linear relationship (r2 = 0.86, p < 0.01) between alternans magnitude detected in V5 and the left ventricular intracavitary lead indicates that the precordial leads could be used to assess cardiac vulnerability from the body surface. Lead V5 showed greater resolution than lead II. In humans, the precordial leads overlying the ischaemic zone were superior to lead II or Frank leads for alternans detection during both the occlusion and the reperfusion phases. In both animals and humans, alternation invariably occurred during the first half of the T wave, coinciding with the vulnerable period of the cardiac cycle and suggesting an important electrophysiological link to cardiac vulnerability.

Alternans is regionally specific and is linearly projected to the precordium. Quantification of its magnitude in the precordial ECG may provide a non-invasive means for tracking cardiac vulnerability during acute myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion in both animals and humans.