Temporal locations of repolarization alternans within the electrocardiogram JT-interval in patients with acute myocardial infarction and healthy subjects

摘要

The article by Burattini et al., published ahead of print in the Journal [1] on August 9, 2011 reflects the long-standing interest of the authors in the characterization of repolarization alternans (RA) for both patients with acute (and subacute) myocardial infarction (AMI) and healthy subjects (HS), and explores the temporal location within the JT-interval of RA occurrence, employing their heart-rate adaptive match filter method to simulated data and clinical ECG recordings. The authors conclude that RA in patients with AMI occurs at a mean 83 ms before and 23 ms after the T-wave apex with an amplitude >30 muV, with both or either of these 2 features present in such patients. The study is significant for its focus of delimiting RA found in HS from that encountered in patients with AMI, since both groups experience RA, albeit lower in magnitude in the HS.