Association of ventricular premature complexes with electrocardiographic-estimated left ventricular mass in a population of African-American and white men and women (the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities [ARIC] Study)

Increased left ventricular (LV) mass is often found in adults and is a powe rful predictor of cardiovascular mortality. To test the hypothesis that an electrocardiographic estimate of LV mass-the Cornell voltage-is associated with ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) in free-living adults, a cross- sectional analysis of the predictors of VPCs on a 2-minute rhythm strip in a population-based sample of 13,606 middle-aged, African-American and white men and women from 4 US communities in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communi ties Study baseline examinations was performed. In adults without known cor onary artery disease, the prevalence of VPCs increases monotonically with i ncreasd Cornell voltages within ethnicity and gender groups. Independent of systemic hypertension, serum electrolytes, age, heart rate, educational at tainment, gender, and ethnicity, a millivolt increase in Cornell voltage wa s associated with a 20% to 30% increase in the prevalence odds ratio of VPC s on the 2-minute electrocardiogram. Thus, Cornell voltage is associated wi th VPCs on a 2-minute electrocardiogram, The association is consistent in A frican-Americans, whites, men, and women. (C) 2001 by Excerpta Medico, Inc.