Introduction: Chest pain is a frequent cause for admission to the emergency department (ED). It can be a sign of various conditions, from a minor disorder to a life-threatening disease such as acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Despite the availability of modern-day tools for the diagnosis of AMI, about 5% of patients with AMI are missed in the ED, with subsequent associated morbidity and mortality. QT dispersion as a marker for arrhythmic potential being a marker of in-homogeneity of ventricular repolarization. The QT dispersion is increased in myocardial ischemia. Aims: This study we hypothesized that QTD could accurately identify patients with the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who presented with chest pain and nondiagnostic initial electrocardiograms (ECGs). Subjects and Methods: The study population included (50) patients (37 males, 13 females) and (10) chronic stable ischemic patients as a control group, they were all in sinus rhythm on admission. All the studied patients were subjected to: History taking; complete physical examination was performed to rule out any other medical problems, standard 12-lead ECG, cardiac markers, echocardiographic examination. QT interval was calculated. The difference between the maximum and minimum QT intervals, occurring in any of the 12 leads, was measured as QTD. A corrected QT interval (QTc) of >440 ms is defined as abnormal, and the difference between QTc max and QTc min was calculated as QTcD. QT dispersion ≤40 ms was considered normal. Results: In the present study, we found that 26 patients (52%) have prolonged QTD (mean 78.800 ms, standard deviation [SD] ±49.555) and 44 patients (88%) have prolonged cQTD (mean 83.322 ms, SD ± 48.491) For patients who were admitted to the ED with chest pain and nondiagnostic initial ECG but later diagnosed as having ACS. Furthermore, we found that only 6 (12%) of patients have a significant prolongation QTD than normal in initial nondiagnostic ECG with elevated cardiac biomarkers (creatine kinase myocardial band at 0 h 48, mean creatine kinase myocardial band (CK MP) at 12 h was 145.833 ± SD 52.660, creatine phosphokinase (CPK) at 0 h: 635.33, mean CPK at 12 h 2448.66 ± SD 538.744). It has been suggested that the initial QTD level has a low predictive power for new cardiac events but that QTD can be more helpful for low-risk patients. Conclusion: Hence, in this study, we found that QTD and QTcD values are higher for ACS patients than for patients without ACS with nondiagnostic initial ECG.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.