Original ArticleOriginal Article Time Domain Analysis of the Signal Averaged Electrocardiogram to Detect Late Potentials in Heart Failure Patients with Different Etiologies

To evaluate the frequency, clinical correlations and prognosis influence of late potentials on the of heart failure patients with different etiologies using the signal averaged electrocardiogram. METHODS A 42 month study of the signal averaged electrocardiograms of 288 heart failure patients with different etiologies was conducted. The group of patients included 215 males (74.65%) and 73 females (25.35%) between the ages of 16 and 70 (mean 51.5, standard deviation 11.24). The heart failure etiologies were: hypertensive heart disease (78 patients, 27.1%); idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (73 patients, 25.4%); ischemic cardiomyopathy (65 patients, 22.6%); Chagas disease (42 patients, 14.6%); alcoholic cardiomyopath