Comparison of Electrocardiography with Echocardiography in Terms of Concurrence of Results in the Diagnosis of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Abstract

Introduction: Left ventricular hypertrophy, common in hypertension, is an adaptive state of the heart to increase in wall stress. LVH has important prognostic implications for patients with hypertension. In detection of LVH, Echocardiography is considered to be superior to electrocardiography in patients with hypertension. Objectives: To compare the findings of electrocardiography with echocardiography in terms of     concurrence   of   results   in   the   diagnosis   of   left   ventricular    hypertrophy.

Study Design: Cross – sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Medical Department of Allied Hospital and PINUM Faisalabad from 14-02-2014 to 13-08-2014. Material & Methods: A total of 88 patients were included in this study. After detailed history and examination, all patients had first ECG and then echocardiographyResults: Mean age of the patients was 50.85+6.3 year. Out of 88 cases, 55 patients (62.5%) were male while remaining 33 patients (37.5%) were female. Mean height of the patients was 1.69+0.10 meter, mean weight was 66.1+9.86 kg and mean BMI was 23.38+1.20. Out of 88 cases, 67 cases were positive on echocardiography and 39 cases were positive on electrocardiography (ECG). Out of these 39 cases 37 cases were true positive, 2 cases were false positive. Conclusion: The results show that electrocardiogram has low sensitivity and low NPV for detecting LVH as compare to echocardiography. These findings are relevant for physiological LVH and should not be extrapolated to detection of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In clinical practice, echocardiography alone should be used to exclude LVH.