Related Experiment Videos
QT dispersion and cardiac involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
A Cindas1, Y Gökçe-Kutsal, L Tokgözoglu
1Süleyman Demirel University School of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Isparta, Turkey. acindas@hotmail.com
Objective:
To investigate the dispersion of repolarization variables in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods:
Electrocardiography (ECG) and Doppler echocardiography were performed on 40 patients with RA, which were divided into two groups according to the duration of disease and in 48 healthy controls.
Results:
All patients had significantly longer QT dispersion (QTd) and corrected QT dispersion (QTc-d) values (p<0.05). The mean values of diastolic function variables were significantly different in all patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between patient groups in terms of diastolic function variables except IVRT. However, QTd and QTc-d were significantly longer in patients with disease duration over 5 years (p<0.05).
Conclusion:
We conclude that repolarization heterogeneity and diastolic dysfunction are commonly seen in RA, and QTd is significantly longer in those patients with a disease duration over 5 years compared to those with new onset RA.