Read about the latest news on ECG / EKG Machines

We are, in many ways, becoming jaded about EKG machines and tests. They are, after all, everywhere–doctor’s offices, hospitals, ambulances, and television shows. How easy is it to dismiss a technology that has become part of a theatrical prop department? But more and more researchers are discovering that this work horse of medical technology has much more to teach us.

We are not referencing a general idea, or even a general screen, but rather a specific mechanism, with real numeric thresholds that can be used here and now, with no delay for FDA approval, such as in the case of a new instrument. This adds to the utility of the EKG machine. Dr. Latha Stead of the University of Rochester reported online in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases that there is a link between prolonged Q-T intervals and increased 90 day mortality in stroke patients.

For the uninitiated, the Q-T interval is the length between the peaks of the Q wave and the T wave on an EKG. This is a piece of data that makes up every EKG and has long been a diagnostic criteria seen by physicians. In the largest such study in 30 years, 345 patients’ EKG reports were reviewed alongside 90 day outcomes. Data was corrected for confounding factors, such as drugs known for lengthening the Q-T wave interval.

Once the data was corrected for gender, age and other related factors, it was discovered that 35.7 % of the patients (123) had a prolonged Q-T interval at the initial evaluation, and this was associated with a higher median stroke score. t was reported that 64 patients died within the first ninety days. That means there was a 90-day survival rate of just over 80 percent. Doing the math, that gives a mortality rate of about one-fifth.

The exact threshold we are talking about is a Q-T interval of 438 msec for men and 440 msec for women. Laying exact numbers aside, this means that EKG has given us another diagnostic tool that will give clinicians a simple way to target patients who are at increased risk of mortality and manage those patients more aggressively. More aggressive management means better outcomes. Not a bad use for a century old technology.

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