PLAUSIBLE CONFOUNDING FACTORS INFLUENCING ASSOCIATION OF LEFT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY WITH VENTRICULAR LATE POTENTIALS IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Abstract

Background: Ventricular late potentials (VLPs) are low amplitude, high frequency signals which are remarkable non-invasive electrocardiographic markers of myocardial tissue damage which can be used to identify ventricular arrhythmias in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). There are significant confounding factors which affect the association of LVH with VLPs in hypertensive patients. Noteworthy among these are gender, age, body surface area (BSA) and smoking. This study was planned to observe the effect of these confounders on VLPs in hypertensive patients with LVH. Methods: The study was conducted in Department of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, Rawalpindi from Nov 2019 to Nov 2020. This was a cohort retrospective study in which 64 patients with systemic arterial hypertension on the basis of LVH were divided into two equal groups. Patients meeting inclusion criteria were selected for Signal-Averaged ECG (SAECG). Results: Out of 64 patients, 49 (76.6%) were males and 15 (23.4%) were females. The overall mean age was 60±11.80 years. To rule out the effect of probable confounders (gender, age, BSA, and smoking) which predominantly affects VLPs in hypertensive patients with LVH, logistic regression was applied. Significance of association of LVH with VLPs increased from 0.01 to 0.03 reflecting that confounder, i.e., age, gender, BSA, and smoking were actually having a negative effect on association of VLPs with LVH. Conclusion: None of the confounders were associated with VLPs reflecting negative effect on association for the two variables of interest.

Pak J Physiol 2023;19(1):3-4