New Marker of Brain-Heart Interaction: Tpeak-Tend Interval

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Neurology
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• The brain-heart connection is a growing area of research.
• Stroke patients face significant cardiac risks, including arrhythmias and sudden death.
• The Tpeak-Tend (Tp-e) interval is a marker for myocardial electrical heterogeneity and malignant arrhythmias.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the Tp-e interval is prolonged in stroke patients.
• To determine the relationship between Tp-e interval prolongation and short-term mortality in stroke survivors.

Main Methods:

• Adult patients with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke were enrolled.
• Electrocardiograms (ECGs) were recorded at hospital admission and 24 hours later.
• In-hospital mortality was tracked for all participants.

Main Results:

• The Tp-e interval was significantly prolonged at hospital admission compared to 24 hours later in leads V2 and V5.
• Specifically, Tp-eV2 was 92.01 ms at admission vs. 84.1 ms at 24h (p=0.003), and Tp-eV5 was 91.9 ms vs. 81.6 ms (p=0.000).
• Multivariate analysis identified Tp-eV2 prolongation as an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (HR: 0.96, p=0.008).

Conclusions:

• Stroke patients exhibit prolonged Tp-e intervals in ECG leads V2 and V5.
• Prolongation of the Tp-e interval in lead V2 serves as an independent cardiovascular predictor of short-term mortality following stroke.