The Correlation between Infarct Size and the QRS Axis Change after Thrombolytic Therapy in ST Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Objective: Electrocardiography (ECG) may be a practical guiding tool for prognostic infarct sizing in ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEAMI). In this study, we sought to find a relation between the infarct size and the change in the QRS axis after thrombolytic therapy.Materials and Methods: Patients with STEAMI who received thrombolytic therapy were selected retrospectively. The mean QRS axes of two ECGs (before and 90 minutes after thrombolytic therapy) were calculated. Creatinine kinase MB (CKMB) was used as the marker of infarct size.Results: We did not detect any correlation between infarct size and change in the QRS axis with respect to any myocardial infarction MI localizations (p=0.80). However, in the isolated inferior MI group, there was a good correlation between CKMB and change in the QRS axis (r=-0.52 p=0.049).Conclusion: The change in the QRS axis is rarely emphasized, providing a practical and promising tool for evaluating both the efficiency of the thrombolytic therapy and prognostic infarct sizing.

Keywords

• Acute coronary syndrome
• Acute myocardial infarction with ST elevation
• Infarct size
• QRS axis
• Thrombolytic therapy