Continuous ST-segment monitoring of patients with right bundle branch block and suspicion of acute myocardial infarction

Background: Patients with right bundle branch block comprise 5-9% of all patients with acute myocardial infarction. In spite of this, limited data exist on early diagnosis or the usefulness of continuous electrocardiographic monitoring in these patients. Methods: A prospective multicenter study with 14 Swedish coronary care units. Patients with right bundle branch block and suspicion of acute myocardial infarction with less than 6 hours symptom duration were included. All patients were monitored with continuous vectorcardiography for 12-24 hours. Results: Seventy-nine patients were included, 43% had acute myocardial infarction. Patients with acute myocardial infarction had significantly higher initial ST-vector magnitude values (P = 0.0014) compared to patients without acute myocardial infarction. Patients with acute myocardial infarction also showed gradual regression of ST-vector magnitude over time that was not seen for patients without acute myocardial infarction (P = 0.005). ST-vector magnitude measured at the J-point differentiated best between patients with and without acute myocardial infarction. A cutoff value of 125 mu V for initial ST-vector magnitude resulted in 55% sensitivity and 87% specificity for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Over time, patients with acute myocardial infarction showed greater changes in QRS-vector difference compared to patients without acute myocardial infarction (P = 0.052). Conclusion: Vectorcardiographic monitoring shows good diagnostic abilities for patients with right bundle branch block and clinical suspicion of acute myocardial infarction and could be useful for continuous monitoring of these patients.