Fragmented QRS may predict increased arterial stiffness in asymptomatic hypertensive patients.

OBJECTIVE: Detection of increased arterial stiffness could prevent patients from being mistakenly classified as being at a low or a moderate risk, when they actually are at a high risk. The main aim of present study was to investigate the relation between fragmented QRS (fQRS) on ECG and the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), which is a novel parameter of arterial stiffness in asymptomatic hypertensive patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Seventy-five asymptomatic hypertensive patients with fQRS and 75 age-matched and sex-matched control individuals without fQRS were enrolled. Patients with fQRS had higher CAVI values compared with those without fQRS (8.6 ± 1.4 vs. 7.9 ± 1.3, P=0.01). In univariate analyses, there was a significant association between increased CAVI and age (P<0.001) and fQRS (P=0.003). Multivariate binary logistic regression analyses showed fQRS (95% confidence interval: 0.122-0.675, P=0.004) and age (95% confidence interval: 1.022-1.105, P=0.002) as the independent determinants of increased CAVI. The sensitivity and specificity of fQRS for predicting abnormal CAVI were 55 and 76%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: The presence of fQRS on ECG may provide important predictive information on arterial stiffness in asymptomatic hypertensive patients.