Posterior Electrical Axis Deviation Is Associated With Future Development of Left Bundle Branch Block: A UK Biobank...

Left bundle branch block (LBBB) describes a specific cardiac conduction abnormality which may be a cause, consequence, or exacerbator of cardiovascular dysfunction and events. Electrocardiogram-derived definitions, which depend heavily on QRS duration (QRSd), are imperfect and continue to evolve, with limited data on predicting LBBB development.

This study aimed to determine whether changes in electrical axis identify patients at risk of future development of LBBB.

Retrospective data from 35,749 UK Biobank participants were analyzed, excluding those with overt cardiovascular disease. The primary endpoint was LBBB development. Associations with axis metrics (computed from baseline cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and 12-lead electrocardiogram) were investigated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, left ventricular ejection fraction and QRSd.

The cohort (age 63.4 ± 7.6 years, 45% male, QRSd: 87.4 ± 12.8 ms) was followed for a median of 6 years. Compared with the event-free population (N = 35,688), those who developed LBBB (N = 41) were older (69.2 vs 64.0 years; P < 0.001), more likely to have hypertension (31.7% vs 11.6%; P < 0.001), and had a significantly lower (more posterior) electrical axis (φ_Electrical: 69.1° vs 80.3°; P = 0.01). In multivariable analysis, lower φ_Electrical (HR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.56-0.94; P = 0.014) was significantly associated with incident LBBB. Individuals with both high QRSd and low φ_Electrical had a four-fold increased risk (HR: 4.09; 95% CI: 1.84-8.99; P < 0.001).

Posterior deviation of the transverse electrical axis complements QRSd in identifying individuals at risk of developing LBBB. These findings suggest that the electrical axis is capturing early conduction disease and may contribute to risk stratification of future development of LBBB.