[Serial changes in QT interval during acute myocardial infarction: comparison of QT interval changes of reperfused cases and non-reperfused cases]

The serial changes in QT intervals during the course of acute myocardial infarction are of interest from the standpoint of the electrocardiogram itself, the development of ventricular tachyarrhythmias, residual cardiac function, and the prognosis of the patients. However, only sparse literature has dealt with this issue because it is difficult to obtain ECGs for analysis, and multiple factors influence the QT interval including the degree of reperfusion, electrolyte imbalance, hemodynamic changes and drugs which alter the QT interval. The ECGs of patients with acute myocardial infarction who underwent reperfusion therapy were analyzed: Sixteen consecutive patients were enrolled in this study, 9 with TIMI grade II and III (TIMI: the thrombolysis in myocardial infarction study group criteria) and 7 with TIMI grade 0, myocardial infarction with (9) and without (7) reperfusion. Patients with collaterals, TIMI grade I, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, electrolyte imbalance, Ia antiarrhythmic drugs, beta adrenoreceptor blockades, atrial fibrillation, and intraventricular conduction disturbances were excluded from the study. Serial ECG recordings were performed at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after the onset of myocardial infarction. One week after and one month after the onset, the ECGs were recorded. Patients who exhibited reocclusion on their arteriograms in the chronic phase were also excluded from the study. Measurements of the QT intervals were performed at the ischemic lead (II in the standard limb lead in inferior infarction and V2 in anteroseptal infarction), and values were averaged from 5 consecutive QRS complexes according to Lepeschkin's method and corrected using Bazett's method. The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and percent fractional shortening (FS) in segments 2, 3, 4 or 5 were calculated from the ventriculogram in the chronic phase. The QT interval revealed a lengthening with its peak within 12 hours after the onset and it became shorter thereafter in reperfused patients. In patients without reperfusion, the QT interval became progressively prolonged without showing a peak point, up to one month. LVEF and FS were significantly higher values in patients with reperfusion than in those without reperfusion. In conclusion, in patients with reperfusion, the QT interval was transiently prolonged and later shortened with improved LVEF and FS than in patients without reperfusion.