The Preoperative Electrocardiogram

[The preoperative electrocardiogram: meaningless routine or essential tool?].

The clinical assessment prior to any surgical intervention is generally carried out by an anaesthesiologist, however, in many cases the cardiologist is also required given that the cardiovascular risk has the greatest clinical and prognosis significance in the majority of interventions. The electrocardiogram (ECG) is a firmly established element of the preoperative cardiological assessment. Off...

The electrocardiogram during angiocardiography.

It is often said that angiocardiography carries little risk, and series of more than a thousand injections without a death are on record (Sussman, 1948; Horger et al., 1951). During recent years, however, more than thirty deaths have been reported-the majority in children with cyanotic congenital heart disease. The exact cause of these deaths has still to be discovered. When Mr. R. C. Brock beg...

The Electrocardiogram in Pellagra.

Deficiency in thiamin, a factor of the vitamin B complex, may cause severe circulatory insufficiency. It is, therefore, of interest to study the circulation in another type of B-avitaminosis-pellagra. The circulatory disturbances encountered in pellagra are of no great clinical significance. Frequently low arterial pressure and tachycardia are present. CEdema, if there is any, can scarcely be a...

The normal composite electrocardiogram.

The electrocardiogram in cardiomyopathy.

Cardiomyopathy has been defined as "a subacute or chronic disorder of heart muscle of unknown or obscure etiology, often with associated endocardial, and sometimes with pericardial, involvement, but not atherosclerotic in origin". Using this definition a differentiation of chronic cardiomyopathies into three types has been made on clinical grounds (Goodwin et al., 1961). Obstructive Cardiomyopa...