T-wave Voltage Research Articles

Initial electrocardiographic changes in experimental occlusion of the coronary artery in non-anesthetized dogs with closed thorax

The authors devised a method that allows the gradual occlusion of the descending branch of the left coronary artery of nonanesthetized dogs with closed thorax. These experimental conditions try to reproduce what happens in human beings. A continuous electrocardiographic recording in V 3 disclosed that the first sign of a coronary occlusion is an increase of the T-wave voltage. Changes of the rhythm, the QRS complex, and of the auricular complex were also seen. These T-wave changes are quite similar to those recently described in the very early stages of a human myocardial infarction.