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Cardiovascular Ultrasound
Published in: Cardiovascular Ultrasound 1/2020

01-12-2020 | Echocardiography | Research

Fragmented QRS as an early predictor of left ventricular systolic dysfunction in healthy individuals: a nested case-control study in the era of speckle tracking echocardiography

Authors: Mohammad Hossein Nikoo, Zahra Jamali, Iman Razeghian-Jahromi, Mehrab Sayadi, Paolo Verdecchia, Firoozeh Abtahi

Published in: Cardiovascular Ultrasound | Issue 1/2020

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Abstract

Background

Several studies addressed the association between fragmented QRS (fQRS) on 12-lead EKG and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in patients with a variety of cardiovascular disorders. We tested such association in healthy individuals.

Methods

Out of 500 healthy participants without -overt cardiovascular disease from the Shiraz Heart Study cohort, we identified 20 subjects with fQRS (cases) and 20 peers without fQRS (controls). Global LV longitudinal strain (GLS) was measured by speckle tracking echocardiography in the two groups. Comparison was made between case and control groups by using chi-square or independent sample t-test or ANOVA.

Results

Age, gender, ejection fraction, LV volume and dimensions did not differ between the case and the control groups. Overall, 14 subjects out of 40 had reduced GLS (≤20%) and 10 of them (25%) had fQRS. GLS was significantly lower in the group with fQRS than in the control group (19.9 ± 1.8 vs 21.4 ± 1.6; p = 0.009).

Conclusions

Healthy subjects with fQRS present regional LV systolic dysfunction, assessed by GLS, in the presence of a normal ejection fraction. These data suggest that fQRS may be a promising tool to identify apparently healthy subjects with regional LV systolic dysfunction.
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Metadata
Title
Fragmented QRS as an early predictor of left ventricular systolic dysfunction in healthy individuals: a nested case-control study in the era of speckle tracking echocardiography
Authors
Mohammad Hossein Nikoo
Zahra Jamali
Iman Razeghian-Jahromi
Mehrab Sayadi
Paolo Verdecchia
Firoozeh Abtahi
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Cardiovascular Ultrasound / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1476-7120
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12947-020-00216-z

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