Abstract
There are several low level electrocardiographic (ECG) potentials whose manifestations on the body surface are too small to be detected by routine measurement techniques. These include the potentials produced by the His-Purkinje system and by slow conduction in depressed ventricular myocardium (usually called late potentials). These potentials are small because the activation front is slow and fractionated or the mass of tissue undergoing depolarization is small or both. However, the measurement of the bioelectric potentials produced by these tissues is important for diagnostic purposes. Identification of the His-Purkinje potential can localize the site of atrio-ventricular conduction disorders, and the detection of late potentials may identify patients at high risk of malignant tachyarrhythmias. The problem in identifying these potentials is that the signal is smaller than the electric noise produced by various sources. Two different techniques have been utilized to improve signal-to-noise ratio: 1) temporal averaging (usually referred as to as signal averaging). This technique is applicable only to repetitive ECG signals and cannot detect moment by moment dynamic changes in the signals. 2) Low noise or high resolution ECG, which utilizes spatial averaging techniques, as well as other noise reducing measures, to record the His-Purkinje signal and late potentials on a beat-to-beat basis. The signal averaged technique has been utilized more often in the last few years and the averaged signal can be analyzed in either the time or frequency domain.
Keywords
- Late Potential
- Reentrant Circuit
- Basic Rhythm
- Ventricular Late Potential
- Anterior Wall Myocardial Infarction
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Supported by National Institutes of Health Grants, HL 31341, HL 36680 and HC 65067 and by the Veterans Administration Medical Research Funds.
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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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El-Sherif, N. et al. (1989). High resolution electrocardiography. Basic and clinical aspects. In: Hombach, V., Hilger, H.H., Kennedy, H.L. (eds) Electrocardiography and Cardiac Drug Therapy. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 92. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1081-2_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1081-2_16
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