Electrocardiographic Variations in Acute Glomerulonephritis

The earliest known report of dilatation of the heart in acute glomerulonephritis was published by Goodhart1in 1879. Since the appearance of these original observations, interest in the cardiac manifestations of acute glomerulonephritis has followed a somewhat cyclic course with a sudden upward acceleration in recent years. Clinicians in various parts of the world, impressed anew with the prominence of circulatory symptoms in many patients with this disease, have been stimulated to make careful studies of the cardiac condition. As one result of this intensification of interest, observations on serial electrocardiograms taken from patients ill with acute glomerulonephritis have been published2(table 5). Only one such study has dealt solely with children.2fIn an earlier analysis of tracings taken from adults and children, it was reported that the electrocardiographic changes in patients 15 years or less were not so marked as in adults.2cThe present paper