The clinical utility of 12-lead resting ECG in the era of ablation strategies

Abstract

Since Einthoven invented the string galvanometer for registering electrical activity of the heart in 1903, electrocardiography (ECG) became the most common and important medical examination. With this 12-lead surface ECG, we can diagnose arrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, or other heart disease. Electrophysiologic study (EPS) has increased our understanding about the mechanism of arrhythmias, including atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT), atrioventricular reentry tachycardia (AVRT), atrial tachycardia (AT), and ventricular tachycardia (VT). Catheter ablation using radiofrequency energy has become the treatment of choice for most supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and VT. Precise review of 12-lead surface ECG can give us the cause of SVT and location of accessory pathway (AP) and focal site of monomorphic VT. So we can plan the ablation technique and reduce the procedure time. We are going to see the usefulness of 12-lead surface ECG for EPS, especially in the era of radiofrequency catheter ablation.