Update on intensive care ECG and cardiac event monitoring

This brief review is aimed primarily as a resource for the clinician and summarizes recent advancementsin electrocardiographic monitoring in the intensive care unit. Emphasis is placed on recent advances in ICU ECGand cardiac event monitoring with particular attention to arrhythmia detection in patients following myocardialinfarction. Specific topics addressed include: clinical indicators of impending arrhythmic events and suddendeath, signal averaged ECG, QT dispersion, ST segment fluctuation, T-wave alternans, QT interval beat-to-beatvariability, heart rate variability, and advances in automated arrhythmia detection.