Serial electrocardiograms in hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

Abstract

A graphic method for depicting serial changes in ECG is described and demonstrated for patients being treated in an antihypertension clinic. For these patients, the diagnostic categories, normal, left ventrical hypertrophy and biventricular hypertrophy, are of primary interest. For each ECG, 14 measurements are used to compute posterior probabilities for each of the 3 categories. A triangular grid is used to plot each set of probabilities for an ECG as 1 point, which by its position in the triangle can be related to the 3 categories simultaneously. Points representing successive ECG can be plotted in the same triangle, giving a pattern of change with time. This pattern of change was corroborated with associated clinical information on a number of patients. This display, which can be produced quickly and efficiently on a computer graphics terminal, should be considered as a possible tool in evaluating the status of individual hypertensive patients in terms of increase or decrease of ventricular hypertrohy and the efficacy of therapeutic measures.