We appreciate the comments from the letter by Dr. Basil M. RuDusky. Regarding subsets of patients according to age, these are shown in Table 1 . We were careful to exclude patients with coronary heart disease or any other cardiac or pulmonary abnormality, but we obviously could not exclude patients with subclinical disease.
Table 1
Electrocardiographic abnormalities according to age
| ECG Abnormality on Admission | Age (yrs) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| <40 (n = 15) | 40–60 (n = 21) | 60 (n = 26) | |
| Normal | 3 (20%) | 3 (14%) | 7 (27%) |
| Sinus tachycardia | 10 (67%) | 11 (52%) | 14 (54%) |
| Atrial fibrillation | — | 1 (4.8%) | 2 (7.7%) |
| Premature atrial contractions | — | 1 (4.8%) | 3 (12%) |
| Premature ventricular contractions | — | 1 (4.8%) | 4 (15%) |
| First degree AV block | — | — | 2 (7.7%) |
| Nonspecific ST-T | 4 (27%) | 4 (19%) | 5 (19%) |
| S 1 S 2 S 3 | 2 (13%) | 3 (14%) | 1 (3.8%) |
| S 1 Q 3 T 3 | — | 1 (4.8%) | 2 (7.7%) |
| Right ventricular hypertrophy | 1 (6.7%) | — | — |
| Right axis deviation | 1 (6.7%) | 3 (14%) | 2 (7.7%) |
| Left axis deviation | — | 2 (14%) | 2 (7.7%) |
| Low voltage QRS | 1 (6.7%) | 1 (4.8%) | — |
| P-pulmonale | — | 2 (14%) | 2 (7.7%) |
| Left ventricular hypertrophy | — | 1 (4.8%) | — |
| Left bundle branch block | — | 1 (4.8%) | — |
| Right bundle branch block | — | — | 3 (12%) |
| Old myocardial infarction | — | 1 (4.8%) | — |
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