IDENTIFICATION OF PREMATURE VENTRICULAR CONTRACTIONS OF HEART USING POINCARE PLOT PARAMETERS AND SAMPLE ENTROPY

Premature ventricular contractions (PVC) are premature heartbeats originating from the ventricles of the heart. These beats occur before the regular heartbeat. PVCs in patients with heart diseases (heart attacks, heart failure, diseases of the heart valves) may be associated with increased risks of developing ventricular tachycardia. This study presents the uses of PoincarA© plot indexes and the sample entropy (SE) analyses of heart rate variability (HRV) from short term ECG recordings as a screening tool for PVCs. A total of 16 sets of ECG recordings, 8 with normal rhythm and 8 of PVC patients are analyzed. PoincarA© plot indexes and the SE measure are used for analyzing variability and complexity of HRV. A clear reduction of standard deviation (SD) projections in PoincarA© plot patterns is observed in the healthy group with a significant difference of SD between healthy and PVC subjects. Additionally, lower SE values are found in PVC group. The results show that SE with SD of PoincarA© plot patterns of HRV can be used in identifying PVCs.