BACKGROUND: Previous studies that determined the frequency content of the
pediatric ECG had their limitations: the study population was small or the
sampling frequency used by the recording system was low. Therefore,
current bandwidth recommendations for recording pediatric ECGs are not
well founded. We wanted to establish minimum bandwidth requirements using
a large set of pediatric ECGs recorded at a high sampling rate. METHODS
AND RESULTS: For 2169 children aged 1 day to 16 years, a 12-lead ECG was
recorded at a sampling rate of 1200 Hz. The averaged beats of each ECG
were passed through digital filters with different cut off points (50 to
300 Hz in 25-Hz steps). We measured the absolute errors in maximum QRS
amplitude for each simulated bandwidth and determined the percentage of
records with an error >25 microV. We found that in any lead, a bandwidth
of 250 Hz yields amplitude errors 95% of the children <1
year. For older children, a gradual decrease in ECG frequency content was
demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend a minimum bandwidth of 250 Hz to
record pediatric ECGs. This bandwidth is considerably higher than the
previous recommendation of 150 Hz from the American Heart Association