UMEM Educational Pearls

Category: Cardiology

Title: T-wave inversions

Keywords: T-wave inversions (PubMed Search)

Posted: 6/14/2009 by Amal Mattu, MD (Updated: 3/28/2024)
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T-wave inversions are commonly found in many conditions other than ACS. Many pulmonary conditions, elevated intracranial pressure, LVH, bundle branch block, and young age are associated with T-wave inversions.

T-wave inversions are especially notable in patients with pulmonary embolism, and one study identified a key difference in T-wave inversion patterns in PE vs. ACS: T-wave inversions in leads III and V1 simultaneously were far more likely to be assocaite with PE, whereas the presence of T-wave inversions in I and aVL were almost always ACS.

A key takeaway point is to maintain a broad differential even in the presence of T-wave inversions...it's not necessarily just ACS!

[ref: Kosuge M, et al. Electrocardiographic differentiation between acute PE and ACS on the basis of negatie T waves. Am J Cardiol 2007;99:817-821.]