QT Interval Variability in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Mohammad Hashemi Jazi
Department of Cardiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Babak Amra
Department of Internal Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Khadijeh Miadi
Department of Cardiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Mansour Jahangiri *
Department of Cardiology, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ali Gholamrezaei
Department of Chronic Diseases, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders, Metabolism and Ageing, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Faezeh Tabesh
Department of Cardiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Mohammad Reza Yazdchi
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases the risk of cardiac arrhythmias. We investigated QT interval variability among OSA patients.
Study Design: It is a descriptive-cross-sectional study.
Methodology: Newly diagnosed OSA patients and healthy controls were studied. Inter-heartbeat and QT intervals were extracted from electrocardiography (for 1 hour at 3 AM). QT interval metrics including duration and variability indexes were compared between patients and controls.
Results: 35 patients and 13 controls were studied. There was no difference between patients and controls, neither between mild/moderate OSA versus severe OSA patients, in the measured QT interval variables. No significant correlation was found between apnea severity and the measured QT interval variables.
Conclusion: We found no difference between OSA patients and controls in QT variability. Also, no clear association between OSA severity and QT variability was observed.
Keywords: Sleep apnea, arrhythmia, cardiovascular, cardiac electrophysiology