Authors

1Santiago García-Velasco Sánchez-Morago, 2María Dolores Sánchez Coello, 3Almudena Villafranca Casanoves, 4José María Cantero Almena, 5María Elvir

Position

Diplomados en Enfermería. Servicio de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital General de Ciudad Real.

Abstract

A three to five electrode ECG is often used to monitor patients, enabling the monitoring of one or two derivations. Continuous monitoring of 12 derivations in patients with a high risk of silent ischemia (without precordial pain) is recommended to detect changes in the ST segment.  
Objective: to ascertain whether a 12 lead derived electrocardiogram with five vector-based electrodes (EASI) is equivalent to a conventional electrocardiogram (ECGc) in critical patients without coronary pathology.  
Methodology: descriptive and prospective study. Conventional and EASI ECGs of patients without coronary disease were obtained over the course of three months on admission to an ICU. Demographic data, frequency, rhythm, axis, width of the QRS complex and of the PR and QT intervals were analysed. Variables such as mean ± standard deviation (SD) were analysed and compared using the Wilcoxon test as the samples attached did not follow a normal distribution.  
Results: forty two pairs of ECGs were collected, 30 males, age 65±17 years. No differences were found regarding the cardiac rhythm. The cardiac rate recorded by the conventional ECG was 89 ± 21 vs EASI 87 ± 19 (p = 0,860). The conventional ECG axis was 26 ± 29 vs a EASI 26 ± 30 (p = 0,771). QRS width was on conventional ECG (97 ± 21) vs EASI (98 ± 22) (p = 0,015). PR interval duration was on conventional ECG (151 ± 35) vs EASI (152 ± 35) (p = 0,066) and QT interval was on conventional ECGc (358 ± 69) vs EASI (359 ± 69) (p = ,457).
Conclusion: there is a significant difference between both methods in terms of QRS widths, without clinical implications. The EASI method is equivalent to the conventional ECG in routine assessment of polyvalent patients with no coronary disease.

Keywords:

cardiac monitoring; coronary patient; critical care; critical patient; EASI; Electrocardiogram; vectors

Versión en Español

Título:

Electrocardiograma convencional frente a vectorial (easi)