Short QT in a Cohort of 1.7 Million Persons: Prevalence, Correlates, and Prognosis

[摘要] Background Short QT syndrome (QTc ≤ 300 ms) is a novel hereditary channelopathy linked to syncope, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and sudden cardiac death. However, its epidemiological features remain unsettled. Objectives (1) To assess the prevalence of short QT in a large population-based sample; (2) to evaluate its demographic and clinical correlates and; (3) to determine its prognosis. Methods A database of 6.4 million electrocardiograms (ECGs) obtained between 1995 and 2008 among 1.7 million persons was used. An internal, population-based method for heart rate correction (QT creg ) was used and all ECGs with QT creg ≤300 ms were manually validated. Linked health plan databases were used for covariate and survival ascertainment. Results Of 6,387,070 ECGs, 1086 had an ECG with machine-read QT creg ≤300 ms. Only 4% (45/1086) were validated yielding a prevalence of 0.7 per 100,000 or 1 of 141,935 ECGs. At the person level, the overall prevalence of QT creg ≤300 ms was 2.7 per 100,000 or 1 of 37,335. The factors independently and significantly associated with validated QT creg ≤300 ms were age over 65 years, Black race, prior history of ventricular dysrhythmias, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ST-T abnormalities, ischemia, bigeminy pattern, and digitalis effect. After 8.3 years of median follow-up and relative to normal QT creg , validated QT creg ≤300 ms was associated after multivariate adjustment with a 2.6-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.9–3.7) increased risk of death. Conclusion QT creg ≤300 ms was extraordinarily rare and was associated with significant ECG abnormalities and reduced survival.

[关键词] QT interval;short QT syndrome;epidemiology;prognosis