The low-amplitude elements of the ECG in diabetic patients
Vaĭtkus, E.A.
Terapevticheskii Arkhiv 63(10): 41-44
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0040-3660 PMID: 1805419 Document Number: 379733
To estimate the rate of changes in low-amplitude elements of the ECG (P wave greater than or equal to 120 ms, distance between its bifurcate peaks greater than 30 ms, P of the terminal index greater than 1.5 microV/s, corrected according to Bazett's formula, PQ interval greater than 200.0 ms, T-U segment displaced downwards from the isoline, negative, biphasic U wave), the additionally enhanced ECGs (1 mV = 50 mm) were recorded in 137 patients suffering from type I diabetes mellitus (DM) without the clinical signs of heart damage (CSHD), in 35 patients with type II DM, in 83 with diabetic myocardiodystrophy (DMD) associated with type I DM and 115 in association with type II DM, in 19 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) in the presence of type I DM, and in 83 patients suffering from CHD and type II DM. It has been established that changes in low-amplitude elements of the ECG may occur in 55-60% of patients suffering from DM without CSHD, 79-80% of patients with DMD, and in 90-100% of patients with CHD in the presence of DM versus 18.2% in the control group of normals (110 test subjects). In most cases, the changes in the atrial complex of the ECG are not coupled with those seen in the TU-U complex in patients suffering from DM without CSHD and DMD and may be coupled in patients suffering from CHD and DM. The increasing rate of the changes in the P complex together with those in TU-U was ascertained in patients suffering from DM without CSHD, DMD, CHD in the presence of both type I and type II DM. The DM type did not exert any appreciable effect on the characteristics or the rate of changes in low-amplitude elements of the ECG.