The Relation between Electrocardiogram Damage Rating and Hospitalization Outcome in Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Background: Ischemic heart disease is among the most important causes of mortality. Therefore, classification and existing ratings for myocardial damage by electrocardiography can assist predicting the prognosis in these patients. Objectives: Given the importance and high prevalence of cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction in Iran, we investigated the relation between electrocardiogram damage rating and hospitalization outcome in Myocardial Infarction (MI). Patients and Methods: During a 19 month period, 289 patients with unstable angina and non-ST Elevation MI who had inclusion criteria for entrance to our study were examined. All patients were evaluated by both Sylvester table rating (SSS) and Q-wave score. Other information was collected from their medical files. Results: The mean age of subjects was 60.61 ± 12.27 years, where 172 (59.5%) male and 117 (40.5%) female were included. Twenty three patients (7.96%) died during hospitalization. The difference of pathologic Q wave’s frequency and recurrent chest pain among patients who expired and those who survived during hospitalization were statistically significant. Also, the amount of Ejection Fraction (EF) and Q score and SSS were significantly different between expired and survived patients. Further analysis showed that EF has negative correlation with SSS (P = 0.032, r = 0.601). Conclusions: It seems that usage of ECG rating systems such as SSS at the time of admission, in addition to showing the extent of the conflict in the myocardium, can provide valuable information about prognosis, severity of myocardial damage and ventricular function in hospitalized patients.