The synthesized vectorcardiogram resembles the measured vectorcardiogram in patients with dyssynchronous heart failure

- The vectorcardiogram (VCG) has regained interest in electrical dyssynchrony patients.
- The VCG can be recorded or synthesized from the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG).
- The synthesized VCG shows large resemblances with the recorded VCG.
- This enables retrospective and prospective VCG analysis of previously recorded ECGs in CRT studies.

BackgroundThe use of vectorcardiography (VCG) has regained interest, however, original Frank-VCG equipment is rare. This study compares the measured VCGs with those synthesized from the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) in patients with heart failure and conduction abnormalities, who are candidate for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).MethodsIn 92 CRT candidates, Frank-VCG and 12-lead ECG were recorded before CRT implantation. The ECG was converted to a VCG using the Kors method (Kors-VCG) and the two methods were compared using correlation and Bland-Altman analyses.ResultsVariables calculated from the Frank- and Kors-VCG showed correlation coefficients between 0.77 and 0.90. There was a significant but small underestimation by the Kors-VCG method, relative bias ranging from − 1.9% ± 4.6% (QRS-T angle) to − 9.4% ± 20.8% (T area).ConclusionThe present study shows that it is justified to use Kors-VCG calculations for VCG analysis, which enables retrospective VCG analysis of previously recorded ECGs in studies related to CRT.