User:Mr. Ibrahem/Sgarbossa's criteria

Sgarbossa criteria are specific electrocardiographic (ECG) changes, in the presence of a left bundle branch block (LBBB) or right ventricular pacing (RVP), that are equivalent to an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). They represent a sudden blockage of a coronary artery.

In LBBB an acute MI is present when there is 1) ST elevation of at least 1 mm in the same direction as the QRS in at least one lead 2) ST depression of at least 1 mm in the same direction as the QRS in one of leads V1 to V3 3) ST elevation in the opposite direction of the QRS that is at least 25% the size of the S wave in one lead. In RVP the second criteria can be applied to leads V1 to V6.

Reperfusion efforts, such as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or fibrinolysis, are recommended if the person has a suspected MI based on symptom and is hemodynamically unstable, has positive Sgarbossa criteria, or has an ultrasound of the heart that shows a STEMI. If one of the three Sgarbossa criteria is present it generally indicate an acute MI, while their absence indicates that the risk is low.

The criteria were first descried by the cardiologist Elena Sgarbossa in 1996. Modifications to the third criteria were proposed by Smith in 2012. While historically, a presumed new LBBB was considered a STEMI equivalent, this is no longer the case as of 2013.