Does computer-based on-line analysis of the exercise ECG using the negative ST integral improve the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease?
Computerized analysis of exercise ECGs using the negative ST integral can effectively differentiate between normal individuals and those with angina pectoris, showing promise for improving ischemic heart disease diagnosis.
A computer program has been developed which clarifies the distorted exercise ECG and performs desired measurements of it which are reported in the laboratory almost immediately, so that the program can be used as an aid to exercise test monitoring. We have introduced a new measurement of the ECG, the negative ST (—ST) integral, which while unfamiliar to the eye is readily performed by computer. A —ST integral value of 7.5 µv-sec during exercise served to separate a normal group from a group with angina pectoris. Strenuous exercise was often necessary to elicit positive responses in diseased subjects, and the graded exercise test was found well-suited for this purpose. Use of a computer program as an investigative instrument in its own right, rather than as a means of duplicating classical human measurements, shows promise for improving the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease.
Sheffield et al. (1969) studied this question.