Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Acute Myocardial Ischaemia Based on Entropy–Complexity Plane

Myocardial ischaemia is a decompensation of the oxygen supply and demand ratio, often caused by coronary atherosclerosis. During the initial stage of ischaemia, the electrical activity of the heart is disrupted, increasing the risk of malignant arrhythmias. The aim of this study is to understand the differential behaviour of the ECG during occlusion of both the left anterior descending (LAD) and right anterior coronary artery (RCA), respectively, using spatio-temporal quantifiers from information theory. A standard 12-lead ECG was recorded for each patient in the database. The control condition was obtained initially. Then, a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty procedure (PTCA), which encompassed the occlusion/reperfusion period, was performed. To evaluate information quantifiers, the Bandt and Pompe permutation method was used to estimate the probability distribution associated with the electrocardiographic vector modulus. Subsequently, we analysed the positioning in the H×C causal plane for the control and ischaemia. In LAD occlusion, decreased entropy and increased complexity can be seen, i.e., the behaviour is more predictable with an increase in the degree of complexity of the system. RCA occlusion had the opposite effects, i.e., the phenomenon is less predictable and exhibits a lower degree of organisation. Finally, both entropy and complexity decrease during the reperfusion phase in LAD and RCA cases.