[The right chest electrocardiogram in normal subjects].

Right chest electrocardiograms (ECGs) of 75 healthy subjects (19 men and 56 women; age 18 to 25 years) were recorded in order to study characteristic features of right precordial ST-T and QRS waves. The diagnostic criteria for right ventricular infarction (RVI) by ECG were also tested in healthy subjects to reascertain their value for diagnosing RVI. 1) The QRS configuration in right chest leads was usually the rS pattern in normal subjects (95% of V3R and 80% of V4R). 2) The Q wave was found in 5% of V4R, 20% of V5R and 51% of V6R. 3) ST elevation of 0.05-0.1 mV at 40 ms and 80 ms after the end of QRS deflection was found in 16 and 28% of V3R, 3 and 4% of V4R, respectively. 4) The T waves were usually negative in all right chest leads (79-88%). 5) The Q waves in V5R and V6R and ST elevation in V3R were relatively frequent findings in normal subjects. Therefore, the presence of a Q wave or ST elevation in these leads are not necessarily specific indicators of RVI by ECG. Furthermore, our data revealed that ST elevation with a Q wave in right chest leads was not present in any of the healthy subjects. This finding may be a more specific indicator for the diagnosis of RVI by ECG.