abstract
presented
at the 1998 ACC
Atlanta, Georgia
March 28-31, 1998
T Wave Alternans in Patients with Idiopathic or Coronary Artery Disease Associated Ventricular Tachycardia.
J Am Coll Cardio Feb. 1998; Special Issue: 483A
P. Kluge, A.Posselt, A. Neugebauer, K.Witting, C. Meyer, T. Walter, D. Pfeiffer.
Department of Cardiology, University Leipzig, Germany
Background: TWA ( T Wave Alternans) represents a risk for development of ventricular tachycardia (VT). In CAD ( Coronary Artery Disease) patients there is a strong correlation between occurrence of VT and electrical instability measured by TWA analysis. For idiopathic VT are only few data available.
Methods: To determine the incidence of TWA, we studied 10 patients with idiopathic VT, and 15 patients with CAD associated VT, TWA analysis was done at rest and during exercise.
Results: TWA was determined as positive when Valt>1.9 uV, and ratio>3.
|
TWA at rest |
TWA during exercise |
|
|
CAD + VT |
Positive N=5 Negative N=10 |
Positive N=15 Negative N=0 |
|
Idiopathic VT |
Positive N=0 Negative N=10 |
Positive N=8 Negative=2 |
Conclusions
: Positive TWA shows a strong correlation with electrical instability in CAD patients with documented VT. In VT patients with no structural heart disease TWA is positive even in 80%. However, in idiopathic VT patients higher heart rates during physical activity are necessary to detect TWA.
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