928-79 Electrocardiographic Criteria for Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Black Population

The electrocardiographic (ECG) criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) i.e., Romhilt-Estes (RE) score, Sokolow and Lyon (SL) and Cornell (C) have poor sensitivity in blacks necessitating the development of race-specific ECG criteria for LVH. Therefore, we studied 225 consecutive black patients (pts) requiring echocardiograms in order to develop a race-specific ECG criteria for LVH. Eighty ECG variables were tested. LVH was defined by left ventricular mass index (LVMI) ≥ 131g/m2in men or ≥ 110g/m2in women. There were equal number of men and women with a mean age of 57.6±15.4. Using univariate and multivariate analysis, four ECG variables and their cut-off points (i.e., amplitude of R wave in L3≥ 0.2 mV, amplitude of S wave in V3≥ 1.5 mV, ST depression in V6≥ 0.1 mV, negative P wave in V1≥ 0.1 mV) were identified that best fit the model for LVH. A 14 point-score system was derived using the beta coefficient for each of the categorical variables. Comparison with established criteria was as follows:HCRESLCSen/Spec49/8633/9025/6627/91PPV/NPV62/4469/6556/6268/64