This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by ROMHILT, D. W. Articles by ESTES, E. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by ROMHILT, D. W. Articles by ESTES, E. H., JR.

(Circulation. 1968;37:15.)
© 1968 American Heart Association, Inc.

---

Vectorcardiographic Diagnosis of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

DONALD W. ROMHILT M.D.¹; JOSEPH C. GREENFIELD JR. M.D.¹; E. HARVEY ESTES JR. M.D.¹

¹ From the Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, and the Medical Service, Durham Veterans Administration Hospital, Durham, North Carolina.

The vectorcardiographic diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy, using the Frank lead system, was evaluated in 93 autopsied male patients (70 with hypertrophy of the left ventricle and 23 without such hypertrophy). The criterion of the maximal QRS magnitude in the transverse plane greater than 2.2 mv below the age of 50 years and 1.8 mv at the age of 50 or more was positive in 61% of hypertrophied hearts and negative for all the nonhypertrophied hearts. The criterion of the T loop vector greater than H°-70° in the transverse plane was positive in 82% of 49 hypertrophied hearts and positive in one (7%) of 15 normal hearts for which the T loop was available.

The maximal QRS magnitudes in the frontal and sagittal planes had too low a sensitivity to be of value while the angles of the maximal QRS vector in the transverse and sagittal planes was too nonspecific to be useful.

By combining the QRS magnitude and the T loop vector in the transverse plane, the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy was made in 90% of 49 hypertrophied hearts for which the T loop was available.

Key Words: Electrocardiogram • QRS amplitude • T-wave angle • QRS angle

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. M. F. Kwok, T. D. Miller, T. F. Christian, D. O. Hodge, and R. J. Gibbons Prognostic Value of a Treadmill Exercise Score in Symptomatic Patients With Nonspecific ST-T Abnormalities on Resting ECG JAMA, September 15, 1999; 282(11): 1047 - 1053. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]