Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Acute Coronary Occlusion Myocardial Infarction in Ventricular Paced Rhythm Using the Modified Sgarbossa Criteria

Study objective: Ventricular paced rhythm is thought to obscure the electrocardiographic diagnosis of acute coronary occlusion myocardial infarction. Our primary aim was to compare the sensitivity of the modified Sgarbossa criteria (MSC) to that of the original Sgarbossa criteria for the diagnosis of occlusion myocardial infarction in patients with ventricular paced rhythm.

Methods: In this retrospective case-control investigation, we studied adult patients with ventricular paced rhythm and symptoms of acute coronary syndrome who presented in an emergency manner to 16 international cardiac referral centers between January 2008 and January 2018. The occlusion myocardial infarction group was defined angiographically as thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade 0 to 1 flow or angiographic evidence of coronary thrombosis and peak cardiac troponin I ≥10.0 ng/mL or troponin T ≥1.0 ng/mL. There were 2 control groups: the "non-occlusion myocardial infarction-angio" group consisted of patients who underwent coronary angiography for presumed type I myocardial infarction but did not meet the definition of occlusion myocardial infarction; the "no occlusion myocardial infarction" control group consisted of randomly selected emergency department patients without occlusion myocardial infarction.

Results: There were 59 occlusion myocardial infarction, 90 non-occlusion myocardial infarction-angio, and 102 no occlusion myocardial infarction subjects (mean age, 72.0 years; 168 [66.9%] men). For the diagnosis of occlusion myocardial infarction, the MSC were more sensitive than the original Sgarbossa criteria (sensitivity 81% [95% confidence interval [CI] 69 to 90] versus 56% [95% CI 42 to 69]). Adding concordant ST-depression in V4 to V6 to the MSC yielded 86% (95% CI 75 to 94) sensitivity. For the no occlusion myocardial infarction control group of ED patients, additional test characteristics of MSC and original Sgarbossa criteria, respectively, were as follows: specificity 96% (95% CI 90 to 99) versus 97% (95% CI 92 to 99); negative likelihood ratio (LR) 0.19 (95% CI 0.11 to 0.33) versus 0.45 (95% CI 0.34 to 0.65); and positive LR 21 (95% CI 7.9 to 55) versus 19 (95% CI 6.1 to 59). For the non-occlusion myocardial infarction-angio control group, additional test characteristics of MSC and original Sgarbossa criteria, respectively, were as follows: specificity 84% (95% CI 76 to 91) versus 90% (95% CI 82 to 95); negative LR 0.22 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.38) versus 0.49 (95% CI 0.35 to 0.66); and positive LR 5.2 (95% CI 3.2 to 8.6) versus 5.6 (95% CI 2.9 to 11).

Conclusion: For the diagnosis of occlusion myocardial infarction in the presence of ventricular paced rhythm, the MSC were more sensitive than the original Sgarbossa criteria; specificity was high for both rules. The MSC may contribute to clinical decisionmaking for patients with ventricular paced rhythm.