[Significance of Tp-Te interval for risk stratification of ventricular premature contractions in children].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the significance of Tp-Te interval for risk stratification of ventricular premature contractions (VPC) in children.


METHODS
A total of 120 children with VPC were divided into benign VPC (n=40), organic disease (n=40) and ventricular parasystole groups (n=40) according to the etiology of VPC; another 40 children who underwent physical examination were selected as the normal control group. The four groups were compared in terms of Tp-Te intervals and Tp-Te/QT ratios in leads V3, V4 and V5.


RESULTS
The Tp-Te interval in lead V3 was significantly longer in the organic disease group than in the other groups (P<0.05), the benign VPC group had a significantly shorter Tp-Te interval in lead V4 than the normal control and organic disease groups (P<0.05), and the organic disease group had a significantly longer Tp-Te interval in lead V5 than the benign VPC group (P<0.05). The Tp-Te/QT ratios in leads V3-V5 were significantly higher in the organic disease group than in the other groups (P<0.05). The Tp-Te/QT ratios in leads V4 and V5 showed significant differences between the ventricular parasystole and benign VPC groups (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Tp-Te interval is susceptible to changes in heart rate, and it is of little value for the risk stratification of VPC in children. Tp-Te/QT ratio, however, may be used as an important non-invasive index for clinical risk stratification of VPC in children and is worthy of further study.
Department of Pediatrics, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China. iaqiao@163.com.
Li
L
Wei
Yong-Yi
YY
Lu
Li-Na
LN
Qiao
Yi-Min
YM
Hua
Yi-Bin
YB
Wang
Xiao
X
Wang
Xin-Hui
XH
Li
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk; D018879:Ventricular Premature Complexes / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology