ST segment body surface isointegral maps in patients with arterial hypertension.

In this retrospective study we analysed changes of the ST segment in patients with arterial hypertension using multi-lead body surface mapping of the electric heart field as the ST segment often shows non-specific changes and is influenced by many different conditions. We constructed isointegral maps (IIM) of chosen intervals (the first 35 ms, the first 80 ms, and the whole ST segment) in 42 patients with arterial hypertension (with and without left ventricular hypertrophy) and in the control group involving 23 healthy persons. We analysed the position and values of map extrema. Spatial distribution of voltage integrals was similar in the control group and in the "pure" hypertensives. Patients with the left ventricular hypertrophy exhibited shifts of the integral minima. Despite our expectations, the highest extrema values were found in the control group and not in the left ventricular hypertrophy group. The extrema values were similar in all hypertensives, with or without left ventricular hypertrophy. Differences could be explained neither by the influence of the age, nor by the body habitus.