Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early repolarization (ER) pattern is diagnosed when the J-point is elevated on the patient's electrocardiogram. The aim of this study was to evaluate signal-averaged electrocardiography (SAECG) in patients with ER pattern. METHODS: Subjects were divided into three groups: 1-patients with normal ECG pattern (control group); 2-patients with J-point elevation in the inferior leads; and 3-patients with J-point elevation in non-inferior leads. RESULTS: The mean filtered QRS duration in groups with J-point elevation in inferior leads and non-inferior leads and in the control, was 86.4 ± 23.4 msec, 84.8 ± 26.6 msec, and 85.8 ± 24.8 msec, respectively, indicating no significant difference across the three groups. The mean duration of terminal QRS < 40µV was 21.2 ± 4.2 msec, 22.8 ± 4.6 msec, and 23.1 ± 4.5 msec in the mentioned groups, respectively, without a significant difference between the groups. Additionally, the mean root-mean-square voltage of terminal 40 msec was 34.5 ± 8.3 µV, 35.3 ± 8.6µV, and 35.7 ± 9.2 µV in patients with increased J-point in inferior leads, non-inferior leads, and the control group, respectively, showing no difference between the groups. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we found that parameters in SAECG did not have any significant difference between patients with ER pattern and healthy individuals. Moreover, we concluded that SAECG cannot distinguish the patients with elevated J-point in inferior leads from non-inferior leads. Overall, SAECG does not appear to be a reliable diagnostic tool for the assessment of ER pattern.