Left arm/right arm lead reversal

Left arm/right arm lead reversal

Electrocardiographic Features

Reversal of the left and right arm electrodes produces a pattern similar to dextrocardia in the limb leads:

• Lead I becomes inverted
• Leads aVR and aVL switch places
• Leads II and III switch places

However, in contrast to dextrocardia there is normal R wave progression in the precordial leads.

With the left and right arm electrodes back in their correct positions, the ECG looks like this:

Lead reversal reversed

Related Topics

• Lead reversals: Limb Lead Reversals (overview)
• Dextrocardia

Further Reading

• ECG BASICS – Waves, Intervals, Segments and Clinical Interpretation
• ECG CLINICAL CASES – Your favourite ECG’s placed in clinical context with a challenging Q&A approach
• ECG and Cardiology Eponymous Syndromes – Cheats guide to eponymous emancipation
• ECG Reference Sites on the WEB – the best of the rest

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