Diagnostic performance of the Selvester QRS scoring system in relation to clinical ECG assessment of patients with lateral myocardial infarction using cardiac magnetic resonance as reference standard

- Chronic lateral infarctions are difficult to detect on ECG.
- Selvester QRS Score may facilitate detection of lateral infarctions.
- Selvester QRS Score correlates with the size of lateral infarctions.

BackgroundThe Selvester QRS scoring system has previously been shown to enable estimation of myocardial infarct (MI) size by quantitative evaluation of the 12-lead ECG. The aim of this study was to assess the system's ability to detect and quantify lateral MI, using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) as reference standard.MethodsIn 23 patients with isolated lateral infarctions MI size was assessed by CMR and estimated by QRS scoring. The ECGs were also evaluated by two cardiologists according to clinical routine.ResultsThe MI size estimated by QRS scoring correlated with MI size assessed by CMR (r = 0.55, p = 0.006). The sensitivity for lateral MI detection was 78% for QRS scoring and 39% for clinical routine ECG evaluation, respectively.ConclusionSelvester QRS scoring can be used to estimate size of isolated lateral MI and has a higher sensitivity for infarct detection compared to clinical routine evaluation of ECGs in these patients.