ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC DIAGNOSIS OF LEFT-VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY

This study was designed to compare the sensitivity, specificity and predictive accuracy of recently developed electrocardiographic criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) utilizing the echocardiogram as a gold standard for increased left ventricular mass. Using the amplitude of the S wave depth in lead V3, the R wave amplitude in lead AVL and T wave voltage in lead V1, sensitivity for LVH was 60%, specificity 88%, positive predictive accuracy 91%, negative predictive accuracy 52% and overall accuracy 69%. These criteria improved considerably upon the standard voltage criteria and the criteria of Estes and Romhilt.