Why the study?
Can a routine electrocardiogram determine the size of myocardial infarction in the rat?
Can a routine electrocardiogram determine the size of myocardial infarction in the rat?
Routine electrocardiogram is reliable for diagnosing myocardial infarction in rats but cannot accurately determine the infarct size, contradicting common beliefs.
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ECG diagnoses MI in rats but cannot estimate size; leaves open need for validated noninvasive indices in preclinical models.
Nine lead electrocardiograms of non-infarcted (N = 61) and infarcted (N = 71) female Wistar rats (200-250 g) were analyzed in order to distinguish left ventricle myocardial infarction (MI) larger than 40% (LMI) from MI smaller than 40% (SMI). MI larger than 40% clearly caused a deviation of AQRS and AT from normal values of 270-360 degrees to 90-270 degrees. Infarcted rats showed Q wave in D1 larger than 1 mm with 94% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The sum of QRS positivity in V1, V2 and V6 lower than 10 mm identified MI with 82% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The data showed that MI can be easily and reliably diagnosed by electrocardiogram in the rat. However, contradicting what is frequently believed, when specificity and sensitivity were analyzed focusing on MI size, none of these current electrocardiographic indices of MI size adequately discriminates LMI from SMI.
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Bonilha et al. (2005) studied this question.
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