BACKGROUND Tpeak-Tend interval (TpTe) and T-wave amplitude (Tamp) carry diagnostic and prognostic information regarding cardiac morbidity and mortality. Heart rate and QT interval are known to be heritable traits. The heritability of T-wave morphology parameters such as TpTe and Tamp is unknown. TpTe and Tamp were evaluated in a large sample of twins. METHODS AND RESULTS Twins from the GEMINA...

BACKGROUND Drug-induced increase in QT dispersion has been associated with potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmias. Little is known about the use of psychotropic substances, alone or in combination with other drugs on QT dispersion. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the impact of psychotropic drugs on QT interval dispersion in adults. METHODS An observational cohort study was designed involving 161 ...

Suggestions were made that increased myocardial sympathetic activity is reflected by elevated QT variability (dynamic changes in QT interval duration). However, the relationship between QT variability and the amount of norepinephrine released from the cardiac sympathetic terminals is unknown. We thus attempted to assess this relationship. The study was performed in 17 subjects (12 with major de...

Abstract Timothy Syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant multisystem genetic condition. The CACNA1C gene, codifier of the CaV1.2 calcium channel, affected, resulting in loss voltage-dependent channel inactivation. Relevant clinical characteristics: (1) corrected QT interval greater than 480ms; (2) syndactyly. Death often occurs during childhood, and results from ventricular tachyarrhythmias. This...

BACKGROUND A prolonged QT interval can lead to malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death, and has frequently been found in end-stage liver disease (ESLD). However, myocardial repolarization lability has not yet been fully investigated. We evaluated the QT variability index (QTVI), a marker of temporal inhomogeneity in ventricular repolarization and an abnormality associated wit...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the prevalence and prognostic significance of long QT interval among patients with chest pain during the acute phase of suspected cardiovascular injury. OBJECTIVES Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and prognostic significance of long QT interval among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain using an optimum QT rate correcti...

The significance of cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) has not been fully appreciated and there is no unified treatment algorithm. Aim: To investigate the effects benfotiamine (BFT) on corrected QT interval (QTc), dispersion (QTd) spatial QRS-T angle in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) CAN. 32 T2DM definite stage CAN were allocated to two groups: control (n = 15) received standard ...

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a relatively frequent valvular abnormality. In both children and adults with MVP, an increased incidence of ventricular arrhythmias has been reported. QT dispersion, defined as the difference in duration between the longest QT interval and the shortest one, for a given set of electrocardiographic leads has been proposed as a sign of regional difference in cardiac ...