Tpeak-Tend interval and Tpeak-Tend/QT ratio in patients with Brugada syndrome.

AIMS: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is characterized by a typical electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern in right precordial leads (V1-V3; so-called type 1 ECG) and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death due to ventricular fibrillation. Annual cardiac event rates vary from 0.5% in asymptomatic to 7.7% in high-risk patients. So far, spontaneous occurrence of the type 1 ECG, survived cardiac arrest, and/or documented ventricular arrhythmias are main risk predictors, whereas other factors (e.g. family history or genotype) are not applicable for risk stratification. In this study, we investigated the relationship between Tpeak -Tend intervals (TpTe) as a novel ECG parameter for the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Clinical and genetic data of 78 unrelated BrS patients (male: n = 57, age: 45 ± 14 years) were retrospectively analysed for medical history, gene mutation, and ECG parameters (in particular heart rate, PQ, QRS, QT, and TpTe) as obtained after digital measurements. TpTe in ECG lead V1 (87 ± 30 vs. 71 ± 27 ms; P = 0.017) and the TpTe/QT ratio (0.24 vs. 0.19; P = 0.018) were significantly higher in high-risk BrS patients than in other BrS patients. In the other right precordial leads typically indicative for BrS, no significant difference was noted.

CONCLUSION: Assessment of the TpTe interval or the TpTe/QT ratio in lead V1 is potentially useful as a non-invasive risk marker for BrS patients with life-threatening arrhythmias.