There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
The QTc dispersion reflects the underlying regional heterogeneity of the recovery
of the ventricular excitability, thereby it is considered as a novel marker of risk
of ventricular arrhythmias. Because a higher incidence of ventricular arrhythmias
is described during and after hemodialysis, the aim of this study has been to evaluate
the QTc dispersion before and after uncomplicated hemodialysis session. Twenty chronic
uremics without heart failure, ischemic heart disease or dialysis hypotension were
selected. The QTc dispersion was determined as the difference between the longer and
the shorter QTc interval measured on a 12-lead electrocardiogram. Following the hemodialysis
session, the QTc dispersion increased from 30 ± 9 to 54 ± 17 ms (p < 0.001) associated
with the expected reduction of potassium and magnesium and with the increase of extracellular
calcium concentration. However, no correlation has been observed between the QTc dispersion
increase and the degree of the intradialytic changes of plasma electrolytes, blood
pressure or body weight. In summary, the hemodialysis treatment per se does induce
an increase of the QTc dispersion, likely due to the rapid changes of electrolyte
plasma concentrations. This can potentially contribute to the arrhythmogenic effect
of the hemodialysis procedure, reflecting an enhanced regional heterogeneity of ventricular
repolarization. The clinical importance of the increase of QTc dispersion as risk
factor of ventricular arrhythmias, particularly in hemodialyzed patients suffering
from ischemic or hypertrophic heart diseases, should be the matter of further investigations.