Use of a power law scaling relationship to analyze signal averaged ECGs

Signal-averaged electrocardiograms (ECGs) have established themselves as a useful means for the detection of late potentials. Unfortunately debate continues as to the best strategies for their analysis. A method which treats late potentials as part of the inherent noise of the signal is that of power law scaling. It was used retrospectively to analyze signal-averaged ECGs. Significant differences in the scaling exponents for patients with myocardial infarction, regional wall motion abnormality, and dilated cardiomyopathy were demonstrated. These preliminary findings suggest that the entire frequency range of the signal-averaged ECG may contain important clinically useful data