Relationship With Calcium, Nutrition Risk, QTc Interval, Tp-e Interval, and Tp-e/QTc Ratio of Critical Care Patients

To our knowledge, there are studies related to QTc interval in critical care patients whose nutrition scores are evaluated but no studies evaluating T-wave peak and end interval (Tp-e interval), Tp-e/QT ratio, and Tp-e/QTc ratio, used to evaluate cardiac arrhythmia risk and ventricular repolarization change rates. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether there is a change in Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT ratio, and Tp-e/QTc ratio in patients whose nutrition scores are evaluated.

This study was planned as a retrospective cross-sectional study. Forty-four patients with a risk score of ≤3 were defined as low-risk group, and 45 patients with a score of ≥4 were defined as high-risk group. Forty-five healthy patients of similar age and gender were included in the control group. All patients underwent 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG). The Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT ratio, and Tp-e/QTc ratio were measured on ECG. The study data were grouped as patients with high Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002) risk score, low NRS-2002 risk score, and healthy control.

QTc interval, Tp-e interval, and Tp-e/QTc ratios were significantly higher in patients with high nutrition risk. In a correlation analysis, Tp-e interval and Tp-e/QTc ratio were found to be independently associated with calcium, corrected calcium, and serum albumin level.

QTc interval, Tp-e interval, and Tp-e/QTc ratios are significantly increased in patients with high nutrition risk score compared with healthy people and are independently associated with calcium and serum albumin levels; thus, they can be used more effectively in the follow-up of cardiac fatal arrhythmias.