Decrease of electrical systole of heart: a review of more than 300 patients

Abstract

Alterations in the cardiac electrical system are the cause of morbidity and a wide variety of symptoms -from mild to those requiring urgent intervention -because of the risk of sudden cardiac death. The most prevalent of these types of electrical disturbances is atrial fibrillation, the incidence of which is growing as the average age of the human being increases. Among many other electrical heart alterations is one I describe in this document: "The presence of short PR and QTc intervals together in the same ECG tracing". Methods: A cardiac calibrator was used by four different cardiologists in blinded fashion to document a distinct ECG pattern, that of a short PR and QTc intervals together in the same ECG tracing from more than 2.500 cases assessed for this condition (more than two thousand five hundred cases evaluated since 2.007 to date). Results: Here we describe the clinical features of 330 patients with a documented short PR and QTc intervals together in the same ECG tracing along with descriptions of their symptoms and ancillary investigations. Conclusions: ECG tracing must be studied carefully in patients with suggestive symptoms before declaring normal an ECG tracing with certain defined characteristics.