These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: Relation of T-wave alternans to regional left ventricular dysfunction and eccentric hypertrophy secondary to coronary heart disease.
    Author: Narayan SM, Smith JM, Lindsay BD, Cain ME, Dávila-Román VG.
    Journal: Am J Cardiol; 2006 Mar 15; 97(6):775-80. PubMed ID: 16516574.
    Abstract:
    Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and structural disease are associated with exaggerated repolarization dispersion and risk for cardiac arrest. We hypothesized that T-wave alternans (TWA) from the electrocardiogram, reflecting proarrhythmic repolarization dispersion, would increase with extent of eccentric LV hypertrophy and vary spatially with the distribution of myocardial scar. We studied 28 patients with coronary disease, systolic dysfunction, and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. On echocardiography, 21 patients had wall motion abnormalities and 20 had LV hypertrophy (mass index > or =100 g/m(2)). TWA magnitude (voltage of alternation), which was computed spectrally during ventricular stimulation, varied linearly with LV mass index (p = 0.003). Spatially, positive TWA (magnitude > or =1.9 microV) in orthogonal electrocardiographic axes overlaid scar or wall motion abnormalities in corresponding echocardiographic segments (p <0.05 in x and y axes). After a follow-up of 35 +/- 13 months, positive TWA predicted the combined end point of death or sustained ventricular arrhythmias in all patients (p = 0.025), with a trend for those with echocardiographic LV hypertrophy (p = 0.058). In conclusion, in patients with systolic dysfunction due to coronary artery disease, TWA may indicate arrhythmic contributions from regional myocardial scar and eccentric LV hypertrophy.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]