Signal-averaged electrocardiography for detection of ventricular tachycardia using fast Fourier transform filtering on a standard ECG cart.

Abstract

Signal-averaged electrocardiography has been advocated as a technique to predict the occurrence of ventricular tachycardia, especially in patients with ischemic heart disease. We studied a heterogeneous population of 77 patients referred for electrophysiologic testing using a recently developed fast Fourier transform filtering system available as part of a standard electrocardiography cart. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive accuracy of this system were consistent with those previously determined using bidirectional Butterworth filters or finite impulse response filtering techniques. This new filtering approach in generation of signal-averaged ECG data for detection of ventricular tachycardia has promise but will require use in larger groups to establish its true clinical value.