COMPARISON OF T WAVE ALTERNANS IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIOMYOPATHY AND HEALTHY CONTROLS

T Wave Alternans in Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Objective: To compare T wave alternans in patients with cardiomyopathy and healthy controls.
Study Design: Cross-sectional comparative study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology Rawalpindi, from Feb 2016 to Aug 2016.
Material and Methods: Sixty patients with cardiomyopathy (any type) along with sixty healthy controls of matched age and gender were recruited through non-probability purposive sampling. Patients with diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular accident, heart failure, bundle branch block, systemic arterial hypertension and ongoing antiarrhythmic therapy were excluded from the study. DMS 300-4L Holters were used to obtain ambulatory ECG recordings. Cardio Scan premier 12 lux software was used for analysis of T wave alternans.
Results: Total one twenty subjects were enrolled in the study. Cardiomyopathic patients with positive T wave alternans were 13 (21.7 %) out of 60, while only 4 (6.7%) out of 60 healthy  controls demonstrated positive T wave alternans. There was significant variation in frequency of patients with positive T wave alternans as compared to healthy controls with p-value of 0.02. In cases the mean value of T wave alternans was 55.10 μv ± 33.58 while 39.45 μv ± 13.53 in controls. The difference in mean value of T wave alternans between cases and controls was significant with p-value of 0.001.
Conclusion: The frequency of patients with cardiomyopathy having positive T wave alternans was significantly higher as compared to the healthy controls.