Electrocardiogram parameters in patients with hypertensive heart failure in Abakaliki, South-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Hypertension and Hypertensive Heart Failure (HHF) constitutes a growing burden of non-communicable forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Africa. This work was designed to investigate Electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters in HHF subjects. A cross-sectional study involving 100 subjects of equal number of HHF and normal subjects were used. Questionnaires were administered; sociodemographic and medical profiles of the subjects were obtained. ECG of each of the participants was conducted and results read for P duration, PR interval, QRS duration, QTc and Sokolow-Lyon index. Among the subjects with HHF, 56% were elderly and 44% were middle-aged. 60% were farmers; 42% had no formal education. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 125.40±20.37 mmHg and 117.62±9 in HHF and normal subjects respectively while diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were 80.88±19.04 mmHg in HHF subjects and 71.84±6.48 mmHg in normal subjects. Heart rate on ECG was 87.66±18.31 and 70.08±8.472 bpm in HHF and normal subjects respectively. QRS duration was 0.13±0.12 and 0.07±0.017 s in the HHF and normal subjects respectively. The corrected QTc was 0.47±0.04 and 0.38±0.024 s in HHF and normal subjects respectively. The Sokolow-Lyon index was 3.81±1.73 and 2.09±0.56 s in HHF and normal subjects respectively. The mean QRS duration was 0.14±0.018 in male and 0.12±0.022 s in female HHF subjects. Sokolow-Lyon index was 3.90±1.68 and 3.56±1.80 s in the male and female HHF subjects respectively. The mean QTc was 0.44±0.036 in male and 0.49±0.036 s in female HHF subjects respectively. ECG heart rate was 92.09±21.204 bpm in the middle-aged and 84.17±15.178 bpm in the elderly HHF subjects. The corrected QT interval was 0.44±0.041 s in the middle-aged group and 0.50±0.031 s in the elderly. The study shows that most of the values of electrocardiogram parameters were higher in the HHF subjects than in the normal population. Also, there were gender and agespecific differences in electrocardiogram parameters obtained in HHF subjects.