title: Left ventricular mass is associated with ventricular repolarization heterogeneity one year after renal transplantation.
abstract: Ventricular repolarization heterogeneity (VRH) is associated with the risk of arrhythmia and cardiac death. This study investigated the association between VRH and left ventricular mass (LVM) in renal transplant recipients 1 year after transplantation. Echocardiography and 5-min 12-lead electrocardiogram were recorded and GFR was estimated (eGFR) in 68 nondiabetic patients. Beat-to-beat QT interval variability algorithm was used to calculate SDNN-QT and rMSSD-QT indices of VRH. To quantify QT interval variability relative to heart rate fluctuations, QTRR index was calculated. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was present in 44 patients (65%). LVM and incidence of LVH were increased in 28 patients with eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) compared with 40 patients with eGFR > or =60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (248 +/- 61 g and 86% vs. 210 +/- 46 g and 50%, respectively; p < 0.01). A direct correlation was found between LVM and SDNN-QT (R = 0.47, R(2)= 0.23; p < 0.001), rMSSD-QT (R = 0.27; R(2)= 0.10; p = 0.034), and QTRR (R = 0.55; R(2)= 0.31; p < 0.001) indices. In conclusion, greater LVM is associated with increased VRH in renal transplant recipients, providing a link with the high risk of arrhythmia and cardiac death, specifically in patients with decreased graft function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. miha.arnol@mf.uni-lj.si
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arnol
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Starc
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Knap
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Potocnik
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Bren
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kandus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006339:Heart Rate; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000601:surgery; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D017582:Renal Replacement Therapy; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*