Longterm Electrocardiographic Monitoring of Ambulatory Patients with Chronic Airway Obstruction

Abstract

Twenty-five patients with severe, chronic obstructive airway disease had standard 12-iead electrocardiograms and longterm electrocardiographic monitoring performed while they were in a stable condition. Standard electrocardiograms demonstrated a high incidence of electrocardiographic abnormalities suggestive of right ventricular hypertrophy and/or chronic pulmonary disease, but only 20 percent showed arrhythmia. In contrast, longterm electrocardiographic monitoring demonstrated mat 84 percent of the patients had some disturbance of rhythm, 72 percent ventricular, most commonly multifocal VPC's, and 52 percent had atrial arrhythmias. The results were compared to monitor recordings from ambulatory patients recovering from acute myocardial infarction. The patients with pulmonary disease and the patients with heart disease showed similarity in the frequency and types of ventricular arrhythmias, but atrial disturbances were more common in the patients with pulmonary disorders.