Some theoretical results on the observability of repolarization heterogeneity on surface ECG.

Abstract: Assessing repolarization heterogeneity (RH) from surface ECG recording is an open issue in modern electrocardiography, despite the fact that several indexes measured on the T-wave have been proposed and tested. To understand how RH occurring at myocite level is reflected on T-wave shapes, in this paper we propose a mathematical framework that combines a simple statistical model of cardiac repolarization times with the dominant T-wave formalism. Within this framework we compare different T-wave features such as T-wave amplitude, T-wave amplitude variability or QT intervals and we describe mathematically how they are linked to the spatial and temporal components of repolarization heterogeneity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]