Allometry of ECG waves in mammals.

The present allometric study deals with the duration of three electrocardiographic intervals (PQ, QRS, QT) and their relationships with the corresponding cardiac cycle length (R-R interval) in mammals across a wide body mass range. The numerical values of the different ECG intervals were obtained from Grauwiler's (1965) monograph on the subject. Because the corresponding body masses were not given by this author, Heusner's (1991) data on basal metabolic rate as function of body mass were used to establish the most likely body mass figure for each case, based on the taxonomic identity between the corresponding specimens. On the other hand, in a recent study we established the "duality" of physiological times (Günther & Morgado, 1996) and, therefore, we adopted this novel approach to investigate the ECG intervals and their relationships with the R-R interval (heart rate reciprocal). Considering that the anatomy and physiology of auricles and ventricles are different (spheroids versus quasi-cylinders), and that excitation (sino-atrial node and His-Purkinje's system) and contraction processes can be described either by Euclidean or fractal geometries, only a quantitative analysis of the different ECG waves could resolve the dilemma. From the present preliminary study we can conclude that fractal geometry is prevalent with regard to ECG intervals.