Recognition of Anterior Wall Infarction in Patients with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Horizontal plane projections of vectorcardiograms registered by the Frank lead system were analyzed in 36 patients with left ventricular hypertrophy and in 24 with left ventricular hypertrophy and associated anterior wall infarction. All were studied at autopsy. The 0.01-, 0.02-, 0.03-second, and maximum QRS vectors were compared with similar measurements in 60 control subjects previously reported. New criteria for the vector-cardiographic diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy have been outlined. Close agreement with earlier reported groups of patients with anteroseptal and anterolateral infarction was found, and findings by others in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy were confirmed. The direction of the 0.02-second QRS vector allowed the separation of the infarct group from the left ventricular hypertrophy group and from the normal, whereas the direction of the 0.03-second and maximum QRS vectors separated left ventricular hypertrophy from the normal. The magnitude of the maximum QRS vector ...