Electrocardiographic abnormalities in neurological diseases

• Main Authors: Rui Póvoa, Luciano Cavichio, Ana Lúcia de Almeida, Danielle Viotti, Celso Ferreira, Luciane Galvão, João Pimenta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia (SBC) 2003-04-01
• Series: Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia
• Subjects: electrocardiography; neurologic diseases; QT interval
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0066-782X2003000400001

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with neurologic diseases. METHODS: We studied 161 patients with neurologic disorders by analyzing the 12-lead electrocardiogram during the pathological process. An expert who did not know anything about the patients evaluated the traces. RESULTS: Neurological process included brain tumor (41%), stroke (27.3%), cerebral aneurysm (15.5%), subarachnoid hemorrhage (6.8%), subdural hemorrhage (5%), and head injury (4.4%). Electrocardiograms were normal in 61% of cases, and the most frequent abnormality was ventricular repolarization (23.7%). The presence of T waves (4.6%) and prolonged QT intervals (8.8%) was the most characteristic of brain injuries. CONCLUSION: We observed a lower incidence of electrocardiographic abnormalities than that described in the literature.