System, method and apparatus for detecting a cardiac event

A method for detecting a cardiac event in a subject, comprising the steps of:

• at a first time, attaching a first electrode to a subject at a predetermined location to obtain a first electrocardiogram from the subject's heart;
• at a second time weeks, months or years after the first time, attaching a second electrode, identical to the first electrode, to the subject at the predetermined location to obtain a second electrocardiogram from the subject's heart;
• computing a time-wise integral of a QRS complex of the first electrocardiogram;
• computing a time-wise integral of a QRS complex of the second electrocardiogram;
• computing a difference in the time-wise integrals of the first and second electrocardiograms;
• and
• evaluating the difference to determine occurrence of a change in a mass of viable myocardium in the subject's heart.

A system for detecting a cardiac event in a subject by comparing ECGs obtained at different times, comprising:

• an input device configured to accept first and second electrocardiograms of a subject's heart, the first electrocardiogram generated at a first time with at least a first electrode positioned at a predetermined location on the subject, the second electrocardiogram generated at a second time weeks, months or years after the first time, with a second electrode positioned at the predetermined location on the subject;
• memory for storing digital representations of the first and second electrocardiograms;
• a processor programmed to retrieve the first and second electrocardiograms from the memory and to compute a time-wise integral of a QRS complex of the first electrocardiogram, to compute a time-wise integral of a QRS complex of the second electrocardiogram, and to compute a difference in the time-wise integrals of the first and second electrocardiograms, wherein the difference is directly proportional to a mass of viable myocardium in the subject's heart;
• and
• an output device for presenting the difference to a clinician for evaluation.