ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC PATTERNS IN HAEMORRHAGIC STROKE

The electrocardiograms (ECGs) of a group of 45 patients with haemorrhagic stroke were studied and were compared with the ECGs of 45 patients with ischaemic stroke and those of 45 surgical patients who were free from cerebrovascular disease. The incidence of left ventricular strain, old myocardial infarction, ST-T wave changes and of conduction and rhythm disturbances did not differ significantly amongst the two groups with cerebrovascular disease, but occurred more frequently in these patients than in the control patients who were free from cerebrovascular disease. A strikingly high incidence of a prolonged Q-Tc interval was found in the patients with haemorrhagic stroke (62.2%), while this type of change occurred in only 17.7% of the patients with ischaemic stroke, and in 11.2% of the surgical patients who served as controls. The patients with haemorrhagic stroke were divided into subgroups of subarachnoid, intracerebral and intraventricular haemorrhage; the frequency of the prolonged Q-Tc interval was especially high in the last two subgroups. © 1969.