Mondal S, Raja DP, Muslim NA, Prabhu MA. Electrocardiographic artifacts in clinical practice: A logical approach to recognition and prevention. World J Cardiol 2026; 18(3): 116299 [DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v18.i3.116299]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sudipta Mondal, MD, Consultant, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Cardiology, The Mission Hospital, Immon Kalyan Sarani, Sector IIC, Bidhannagar, Durgapur 713212, West Bengal, India. sudiptamondalnrs@gmail.com
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Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
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Minireviews
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Mar 26, 2026 (publication date) through Mar 23, 2026
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Publication Name
World Journal of Cardiology
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1949-8462
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Mondal S, Raja DP, Muslim NA, Prabhu MA. Electrocardiographic artifacts in clinical practice: A logical approach to recognition and prevention. World J Cardiol 2026; 18(3): 116299 [DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v18.i3.116299]
World J Cardiol. Mar 26, 2026; 18(3): 116299 Published online Mar 26, 2026. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v18.i3.116299
Electrocardiographic artifacts in clinical practice: A logical approach to recognition and prevention
Sudipta Mondal, Dinesh P Raja, Nadeem A Muslim, Mukund A Prabhu
Sudipta Mondal, Nadeem A Muslim, Department of Cardiology, The Mission Hospital, Durgapur 713212, West Bengal, India
Dinesh P Raja, Department of Cardiology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum 695011, India
Mukund A Prabhu, Department of Cardiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
Co-first authors: Sudipta Mondal and Dinesh P Raja.
Author contributions: Mondal S, Muslim NA, Raja DP, and Prabhu MA contributed to the conceptualization, investigation, formal analysis, writing - original draft, review and editing. Mondal S and Raja DP contributed equally to this manuscript and are co-first authors.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Sudipta Mondal, MD, Consultant, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Cardiology, The Mission Hospital, Immon Kalyan Sarani, Sector IIC, Bidhannagar, Durgapur 713212, West Bengal, India. sudiptamondalnrs@gmail.com
Received: November 7, 2025 Revised: December 9, 2025 Accepted: February 9, 2026 Published online: March 26, 2026 Processing time: 136 Days and 13.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Electrocardiographic artifacts are non-cardiac signals that corrupt monitoring, often mimicking serious arrhythmias or ischemia and leading to unnecessary interventions. They are introduced at various points in the recording chain - from patient movement and electrode issues to environmental interference - due to the tiny cardiac signal and frequency overlap with noise. Recognizing these artifacts is vital; it requires clinical correlation, checking physiological plausibility, and assessing lead distribution to avoid misdiagnosis and safely manage the patient. This review summarizes the physics of electrocardiographic recording in simple terms, classifies common artifacts and outlines practical bedside clues and preventive strategies.
