Portable-type signal-averaged electrocardiography with dipyridamole to detect patients with coronary artery disease

In a retrospective study portable-type signal-averaged electrocardiography (SAECG) with dipyridamole stress was found to identify patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) at their bedside with high sensitivity and specificity, so the utility of this method was prospectively investigated in the present study. Standard 12-lead QRS wave SAECG was performed before and after dipyridamole stress at the bedside in 71 patients with chest pain (43 males, mean age 63 +/-9 years). The filtered QRS duration (fQRSd) before and after dipyridamole stress was determined by multiphasic oscillation method for each of the standard 12 leads, and the maximal value of changes in fQRSd (MAX DeltafQRSd) among the 12 leads was determined. The positive test was defined as MAX DeltafQRSd >or=5 ms, and negative as MAX DeltafQRSd