Electrocardiographic Findings in Patients with Connective Tissue Disease

Abstract

ECG changes in 49 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 18 with ankylosing spondylitis, 47 with systemic lupus erythematosus, 17 with dermatomyositis, 21 with scleroderma and 7 with polyarteritis nodosa were compared with ECG changes in 106 control subjects. The classification of ECG findings was based mainly on the Minnesota Code. Compared with control subjects, pathological Q-QS, ST segment and T wave patterns were more common in all patient groups–including dermatomyositis, in which cardiac involvement has rarely been reported. P terminal force (PTF) was higher in the patient group. Conduction defects were probably more common in connective tissue diseases, whereas differences in ectopic beats, arrhythmias, QRS duration and QRS axis and R wave amplitude were not significant. The only significant difference between the steroid-treated patients and those without such treatment was the higher frequency of ST changes in the steroid-treated group.

The results imply that heart affection is common in all connective tissue diseases. The several mechanisms underlying the cardiac involvement are reflected in many ways in the electrocardiograms of these patients, including an increased frequency of ECG changes mimicking those met in coronary heart disease.