Cardiac repolarization abnormalities in multiple sclerosis: spinal cord MRI correlates.
Ventricular repolarization dysfunction has recently been reported in multiple sclerosis (MS). We evaluated ventricular repolarization dysfunction in 52 MS patients and looked for a relationship between corrected QT (QTc) abnormalities (i.e., abnormalities of QT intervals corrected for rate) and spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. QTc intervals were increased in MS patients compared with controls (P < 0.01) and were correlated with a reduction of spinal cord area (P < 0.01). QTc abnormalities in MS were thus associated with axonal loss, reflected by spinal cord atrophy, rather than demyelination.
Department of Neurology, Hôpital R. Salengro, CHRU de Lille, France. j-deseze@chru-lille.fr
J
J
de Seze
T
T
Stojkovic
J Y
JY
Gauvrit
T
T
Saint Michel
M
M
Ayachi
J P
JP
Pruvo
P
P
Vermersch
D000328:Adult; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology