title: Relation between microvolt level T wave alternans and other potential noninvasive predictors of arrhythmic risk in the Marburg Cardiomyopathy Study.
abstract: The relation between microvolt level T wave alternans (TWA) and other noninvasive arrhythmia risk predictors was analyzed in 221 consecutive patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) and sinus rhythm enrolled in the Marburg Cardiomyopathy Study between March 1996 and May 2000. TWA analysis was also performed in 110 healthy controls of similar age and sex. TWA during symptom-limited exercise was positive, negative and indeterminate in, respectively, 108 (49%), 65 (29%) and 48 (22%) patients with IDC versus, respectively, 5 (5%), 98 (89%) and 7 (6%) healthy controls (P < 0.05). Patients with IDC and positive TWA had a lower left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (29 +/- 9% vs 34 +/- 10%, P < 0.05) and greater LV end-diastolic diameter (69 +/- 8 mm versus 64 +/- 6 mm, P < 0.05) than patients with negative TWA. Other variables, including age, gender, New York Heart Association functional class, presence of bundle branch block, arrhythmias on 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram, heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity, were not significantly different between patients with positive vs negative TWA. The prognostic significance of TWA in IDC with regard to arrhythmic events and total mortality will be determined by multivariate Cox analysis at the end of a 5-year follow-up in this ongoing study.
authors.affiliation: Hospital of the Philipps-University Marburg, Department of Cardiology Baldingerstrasse, 35033 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grimm
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Menz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maisch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D017704:Baroreflex; D002037:Bundle-Branch Block / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D002306:Cardiac Volume; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013318:Stroke Volume; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left