K. Aytemir et al., Increased QT dispersion in the absence of QT prolongation in patients withBehcet's disease and ventricular arrhythmias, INT J CARD, 67(2), 1998, pp. 171-175
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Cardiovascular & Respiratory Systems","Cardiovascular & Hematology Research
In Behcet's disease, prominent clinical manifestations include involvement
of mucocutaneous, ocular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, neurologic, urogen
ital, articular and cardiovascular systems. Patients with Behcet's disease
have higher incidence of ventricular arrhythmia than healthy subjects. Howe
ver there is a little information about the mechanism of ventricular arrhyt
hmias in Behcet's disease. The aim of the study was to investigate whether
dispersion of ventricular repolarisation was an arrhythmogenic mechanism. Q
T dispersion parameters were measured in 73 Behcet patients and QT dispersi
on was defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum QT interva
l in any of the 12 leads of surface electrocardiogram. Corrected QT dispers
ion for heart rate was calculated by Bazett's formula. The results were com
pared with the data from 51 matched controls without a history of cardiac d
isease. We found QT dispersion was greater in Behcet patients (58+/-12 vs.
37+/-8 ms, P=0.001) as was corrected QT dispersion (81+/-14 vs. 52+/-11 ms,
P=0.001). There was no significant difference in minimum or maximum QT int
ervals between Behcet patients and controls (P>0.05). We found a correlatio
n between QT dispersion and grade of premature ventricular complexes (r=0.7
, P=0.002). Our findings suggest that increased dispersion of repolarisatio
n may account for the development of ventricular arrhythmias in Behcet's di
sease. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.