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Þórðardóttir S, Aspelund T, Sigurðsson ÁG, Guðnason V, Harðarson Þ

Objective: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is important clinically because it is associated with heart failure, arrythmias, myocardial infarction and stroke. The purpose of this study was to assess how well traditional ECG voltage criteria predict coronary heart disease mortality amongst males and to find the QRS voltages that best combine sensitivity and specificity in this sense.

Material and methods: Our study is a random population cohort study initiated in 1967. The study group included males that had been diagnosed with LVH on ECG using the Minnesota code (n=206). The other male participants of the study (n=8595) comprised the control group. The ECG voltage criteria of the Minnesota code were systematically narrowed and the mortality of those who fulfilled the stricter criteria compared with those who did not.?Results: There was no significant increase in coronary heart disease mortality difference between those who fulfilled the criteria of the Minnesota code for LVH and those who did not. When the criteria were narrowed there was a trend towards increased mortality with larger QRS voltages, but the trend was not strong.?Conclusion: The correlation between large QRS voltage on ECG and mortality in males is limited. QRS voltage is an imperfect tool for prediction of cardiac mortality amongst males.

Keywords: Left ventricular hypertrophy, ECG, hypertension, males.

Correspondence: Steinunn Þórðardóttir