The Electrocardiogram and Vectorcardiogram of the Normal Infant

The Electrocardiogram During the First Week of Life

“…The only other infant with this finding in his series of 600 infants and children was 5months old. According to Rosen and Gardberg (1957), Q waves in V4R and VI are exceptional at birth but may be present at 1 month and can persist throughout infancy. However, none of the infants studied was less than 24 hours of age, and all infants more than 1 day and less than 1 month old constituted one group.…”

Cardiodynamic Studies in the Neonate in Health and in Disease

“…T he values o f its d irectio n in th e fro n ta l plane o b tain ed in th e h e a lth y in fan ts o f this series are in a g re e m e n t w ith th o se o f o th e rs (12,27,28,14). T he discrepancies w ith th e values given b y R othfeld (15) h av e been discussed previously.…”

“…T he re su lts o f th e v ecto rial analysis o f the electro card io g ram of th e h e a lth y new b o rn in fa n ts re p o rte d in th is stu d y arc in ag reem en t w ith th e q u a lita tiv e a n d q u a n tita tiv e d a ta re p o rte d b y oth ers (9,10,11,12,13,14). T h e re is an a p p a re n t d iscrepancy betw een o u r values for th e d irectio n o f th e m ean v e c to r of Q R S and th e Q R S -T angle and th o se p ublished b y Rothfeld and coworkers (15).…”

“…T h e effect o f p re m a tu rity on th e electro card io g ram has been well d o cu m en ted in several stu d ies, p a rtic u la rly those o f Salm i and co-workers (7) a n d o f Ilubsher (8). T he use o f d ire c t v ecto rcard io g ra p h y in th e e v a lu a tio n o f th e card iac dynam ics o f th e n eo n ate has been s tu d ie d b y a n u m b e r o f a u th o rs (9,10,11,12,13,14,15). T he m a jo rity o f th e se com m u n icatio n s describe the d irectio n a n d shape of th e loops o f th e Q R S an d T in several planes, b u t th e lim ita tio n s of th e te c h n iq u e p reclude a co n c o m ita n t q u a n tita tiv e analysis o f o th e r co m p o n en ts o f th e electro card io g ram , i.e., v ecto r o f P a n d th e scalar m ag n itu d es.…”

“…O th er fa c to rs, re la te d to p u lm o n a ry c irc u la to ry d y nam ics, m ay c o n trib u te to a relativ e electrical p re p o n d eran ce o f th e rig h t v en tricle, b u t this possib ility req u ires fu rth e r in v e stig a tio n . The presence o f a S1S2S3 p a tte r n in th e m a jo rity o f th e tra c in g s in h ealth y new born in fa n ts m ay be due to a d elayed a c tiv a tio n in a given area o f th e m y o card iu m (14) p ro b a b ly th e c rista su p re v e n tric u la ris (12)…”