TITLE:
Prolonged QTc Interval Is an Electrophysiological Hallmark of Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy
AUTHORS:
Adnan Bashir Bhatti, Farhan Ali, Siddique Akbar Satti
KEYWORDS:
Cirrhosis; QT Interval; Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Internal Medicine,
Vol.4 No.1,
March
26,
2014
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy is a relatively ill-characterized
condition, which is often under-diagnosed due to absence of defined diagnostic
criteria. ECG showing corrected QT Interval prolongation is the most suitable
available option for diagnosis of this condition. OBJECTIVE: To determine the
frequency of corrected QT interval prolongation in patients with liver
cirrhosis. METHODOLOGY: Patients (n = 166) with confirmed cirrhosis, 30 years or older, presented in the
outpatient and emergency department of medicine at Capital Hospital Islamabad
between 1 October 2011 and 30 September 2012, were enrolled in this
cross-sectional study after taking consent. ECG was done using calibrated ECG
machine, and the QT Interval was measured. Corrected QT was calculated using
Bazett’s formula and a QTc of more than 0.44 seconds was considered as being
prolonged. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 57.05 ± 12.03 years. The
corrected QT Interval varied from 337 ms to 560 ms. The mean QTc Interval was
429.92 ms ± 45.11. QTc was prolonged in 41 out of 166 patients (24.7%).
Frequency of QTc prolongation was 4.5% in Child Pugh Grade A, 23.2% in Child Pugh Grade B, and 32.0% in Child Pugh
Grade C. Association of Child Pugh Scoring with QTc prolongation was determined
and found to be statistically significant (P