Electrocardiogram in the Cerebrovascular Disease

It has been well known that abnormal ECG appears on cerebrovascular attack (CVA). However, some of these abnormalities should be attributed to the underlying factors such as aging or hypertensive heart diseases. In order to assess the mechanism of abnormal ECG findings in CVA, the multiple ECGs were studied in 3 groups of the patients: a group of patients under cerebrovascular attack (CVAG), of hypertensive patients and a normotensive control group. Each group consists of 50 patients with the same age distribution. Bradycardia and prolonged QT were frequently seen in CVAG. Left ventricular hypertrophy and depressed ST seemed to be related to hypertension, and these findings were not related to the mortality rate in CVA. Arrhythmia was common in older patients, however it was also found in younger patients with CVA. When arrythmia appeared after CVA, the prognosis was poor. In subarachinoid hemorrhage, the inverted deep T wave and myocardial infarction like pattern were not found in the patients studied. On a patient of cerebral hemorrhage, ECG showed the pattern of subendocardial infarction, and autopsy revealed the subendocardial hemorrhage.