Alterações eletrocardiográficas nas doenças neurológicas / Electrocardiographic abnormalities in neurological diseases

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with neurologic diseases. METHODS: We studied 161 patients with neurologic disorders by analyzing the 12-lead electrocardiogram during the pathological process. An expert who did not know anything about the patients evaluated the traces. RESULTS: Neurological process included brain tumor (41 percent), stroke (27.3 percent), cerebral aneurysm (15.5 percent), subarachnoid hemorrhage (6.8 percent), subdural hemorrhage (5 percent), and head injury (4.4 percent). Electrocardiograms were normal in 61 percent of cases, and the most frequent abnormality was ventricular repolarization (23.7 percent). The presence of T waves (4.6 percent) and prolonged QT intervals (8.8 percent) was the most characteristic of brain injuries. CONCLUSION: We observed a lower incidence of electrocardiographic abnormalities than that described in the literature