Clinical and electrocardiographic correlations in pulmonary heart disease (cor pulmonale).

It is now possible to diagnose early cor pulmonale by utilizing electrocardiographic fluctuations which are the result of moderate pulmonary hypertension and the accompanying effect upon right ventricular function. This holds whether the ECG alterations are produced by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or by the rarer forms of obliterative lung disease. The late stage of cor pulmonale, in which right ventricular hypertrophy is manifest, should now be rarely encountered in view of our improved understanding of cor pulmonale and more rational therapeutic approaches to the underlying disorders.