Read about the latest news on ECG / EKG Machines

According to a new research study published online in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, an EKG given to a patient receiving emergency treatment for an ischemic stroke can help doctors predict that patient’s likelihood of surviving for the next three months. Each year, there are about 795,000 people in the United States who suffer a stroke, either their first, or a recurrent stroke, according to the American Stroke Association. The majority of these strokes are ischemic strokes, in which blood vessels supplying blood to the brain become obstructed.

As the EKG machine records the electrical activity of the heart, it produces a drawing, or tracing, with a distinctive wave shape. The different parts of this wave are given letter names. In the case of ischemic stroke patients, it is the QTc interval, which measures how long it takes the electrical signals of the heart to pass through the ventricles, that is significant.

If the QTc interval is longer than normal, meaning that the time it is taking for the electrical signal to pass through the ventricles is too long, the stroke patient is at high risk of death during the next three months. The study found that the threat of dying was highest for women with a QTc interval over 440 milliseconds and for men with a QTc interval over 438 milliseconds. Ischemic stroke patients who do not show abnormal electrical activity in the heart when they present for emergency treatment do not have as high a risk of death during the coming three months.

According to study author Dr. Latha G. Stead, there have been few studies that have examined abnormal QTc intervals and patient survival particularly in the context of ischemic stroke. Dr. Stead, supported by the Mayo Foundation Emergency Medicine Career Research Career Development Award, is professor and chair at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Department of Emergency Medicine. Medical records of 345 patients suffering from ischemic stroke who were treated between 2001 and 2004 were studied during the course of Dr. Stead’s research. The patients were followed for a three month period after the stroke.