Increased dispersion of ventricular repolarization during head-up tilt test late after orthotopic heart transplantation in humans.
Sympathetic reinnervation after heart transplantation may be regionally heterogeneous. It remains undetermined if such heterogeneous reinnervation will result in increased ventricular repolarization dispersion. To determine the changes of ventricular repolarization after transplantation, a 15-minute, 80-degree head-up tilt test was prospectively performed with isoproterenol provocation in 30 patients who were studied within 5 months after transplantation (early group) and 30 patients who were studied > or =12 months (late group). Holter monitor was initiated to evaluate heart rate variability, which was a surrogate of cardiac reinnervation. JT dispersion was defined as the difference between maximal and minimal JT interval measurements occurring among any of the 12 leads on a standard electrocardiogram. No subject had fewer than nine measurable leads. Compared with patients in the early group, the patients in the late group had higher low frequency activity, indicating partial sympathetic reinnervation. Analysis of the electrocardiogram showed that there were significant differences in the corrected JT dispersion in the late group compared with the early group and controls (74+/-18 vs 56+/-15 and 55+/-14 ms, both P <0.05) during isoproterenol infusion. Head-up tilt test is a useful tool to unmask the increased dispersion of ventricular repolarization, particularly during states of isoproterenol infusion. Early after cardiac transplantation, neither postural changes nor isoproterenol infusion caused a significant increase of corrected JT dispersion. Late after transplantation, heterogeneous sympathetic reinnervation may result in increased corrected JT dispersion. However, whether increased dispersion of ventricular repolarization is related to cardiac death late after operation warrants further investigation in a large and long-term trial.
Lee
Tsung-Ming
TM
College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei.
Chou
Nai-Kuan
NK
Tsai
Chang-Her
CH
Ko
Wen-Je
WJ
Tsai
Pi-Ru
PR
Wang
Shoei-Shen
SS
Chu
Shu-Hsun
SH
D000328:Adult; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D018667:Tilt-Table Test; D016276:Ventricular Function