The use of calculated epicardial potentials improves significantly the sensitivity of a diagnostic algorithm in the detection of acute myocardial infarction.

Inverse electrocardiography can calculate epicardial potentials (EP) from body surface potentials (BSP) taking into account a thoracic volume conductor model (TVCM). Previous studies have shown that a tailored TVCM is superior to a general TVCM in calculating EP. However, construction of a tailored TVCM for a patient in an acute clinical setting is impractical. In this study we used a general TVCM in our EP calculations to determine whether this improves detection of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) using a diagnostic algorithm. BSP were derived from the 80-lead body surface map (BSM). Consecutive patients (n=379) with ischemic type chest pain were recruited. The BSM and a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) were recorded at initial presentation and creatine kinase (CK) and/or CK-MB were measured initially, 12 and 24 hours postsymptom onset. A physician interpreted the 12-lead electrocardiogram and documented ST elevation if present. AMI was defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The diagnostic algorithm result for each patient using BSP and calculated EP were documented. AMI occurred in 171 patients. The diagnostic algorithm using BSP identified 106 of these as ST elevation AMI (STEMI) (sensitivity 62%, specificity 80%). The same algorithm using EP identified 133 as STEMI (sensitivity 78%, specificity 80%). Calculated EP improved the algorithm's diagnostic sensitivity by a factor of 1.25 (P<.001) with no significant difference in specificity. Calculated EP using a general TVCM significantly improves the sensitivity of a diagnostic algorithm based on BSP in detection of AMI with no significant loss in specificity.