RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The 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. METHODS: In 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. RESULTS: The 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. CONCLUSION: Selvester 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.