FREQUENCY OF VENTRICULAR LATE POTENTIALS IN HEALTHY POPULATION

Abstract

Background: Ventricular late potentials are low amplitude signals detected on Signal averaged ECG. These potentials have been associated with the development of ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Few studies are available relating frequency of ventricular late potentials in healthy individuals but no such data is available for our population. We planned the study to determine frequency of ventricular late potentials in healthy subjects of our population. Methods: Thirty-seven healthy subjects with mean age 26±5 were included. All the subjects underwent ECG, Echocardiography, Exercise tolerance test, blood sugar profile and coronary angiogram to rule out all the possible confounders. Signal averaged ECG was performed on all the subjects to determine ventricular late potentials. Three parameters of SAECG, i.e., fQRS, LAS 40 and RMS 40 were measured using 1200 EPX arrhythmia research technology. Results: Only 1 subject out of total 37 had ventricular late potentials (2.7 %). Conclusion: The frequency of ventricular late potentials in healthy subjects (2.7%) indicates the magnitude of development of ventricular tachyarrhythmias that may lead to vulnerability of sudden cardiac death. However study on larger scale is needed to confirm the frequency of ventricular late potentials in our population.