COMPARISON OF VENTRICULAR LATE POTENTIALS IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIOMYOPATHY AND HEALTHY CONTROLS

Abstract

Background: Ventricular late potentials (VLPs) are low amplitude high frequency signals present in the terminal part of QRS complex detected by signal averaged ECG. They have emerged as robust tools for arrhythmia risk stratification in patients with cardiac diseases. Early detection of ventricular late potentials in patients with cardiomyopathy can help in risk stratification of ventricular arrhythmias leading to sudden cardiac death. The purpose of this study was to compare VLPs in patients with cardiomyopathy and healthy controls. Methods: The study was conducted in Department of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, Rawalpindi. Sixty patients with cardiomyopathy (any type) along with 60 healthy controls were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. Patients meeting inclusion criteria were selected for Signal-Averaged ECG (SAECG). Results: Ventricular late potentials were seen in 14 (23.3%) out of 60 patients with cardiomyopathy, while only 5 (8.3%) out of 60 healthy controls demonstrated ventricular late potentials. There was significant variation in frequency of patients with ventricular late potentials as compared to healthy controls (p=0.02). The mean value of fQRS was 107.53±37.70 in cases while 80.32±24.19 in controls and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001) while insignificant for RMS and LAS (p=0.52 and 0.87 respectively). Conclusion: The frequency of patients with cardiomyopathy having ventricular late potentials is significantly higher compared to healthy controls.

Pak J Physiol 2017;13(1):36–8