It is difficult to model outcomes in patients post-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), particularly onset of heart failure. The acute insult following a myocardial infarction and chronic degeneration seen in HF involve a similar process where a loss of cardiomyocytes and abnormal remodeling lead to pump failure. This process may alter the strength and direction of the heart’s net depolarization signal. The investigators hypothesized that changes over time in unique parameters extracted using vectorcardiography (VCG) have the potential to predict clinical outcomes in patients post-STEMI and could eventually be used as a non-invasive and cost-effective surveillance tool for characterizing the severity and progression of HF to guide evidence-based therapies.
