Prolongation of QTc Duration and Increased Heart Rate in Patients with Cirrhosis of Liver

Umair  Ahmed; Aamir  Shaukat; Asim  Shaukat; Hooria  Aamir

doi:10.29054/apmc/2012.479

Umair Ahmed Senior Registrar Medicine Allied Hospital, Faisalabad
Aamir Shaukat Asscociate Professor Medicine Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad
Asim Shaukat Assistant Professor Radiology Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad
Hooria Aamir Demonstrator Physiology Deptt Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad

DOI: https://doi.org/10.29054/apmc/2012.479

Keywords: Heart rate, Cirrhosis, QTc

Abstract

Objective: To compare QTc duration and increased heart rate in patients with cirrhosis with non-cirrhotic controls. Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Medical Unit 1 Allied Hospital Faisalabad between 1^st March 2011 to 30^thAugust 2011. Patients and Methods: 50 patients of cirrhosis were selected in Group-I. An equal number of non-cirrhotic patients were taken as control and were included in Group-II. ECG was recorded and Heart rate(HR) and QTc interval was calculated in both the groups. Comparison of increased prolongation of QTc and Heart Rate were done using independent samples test with significance level at 0.05. Results: Fifty patients of cirrhosis of liver were inducted in Group-I with same number of non-cirrhotic patients as control in Group-II. The mean ± SD of QTc of Group-I was 0.472± 0.012 sec and that in Group-II was 0.434 ±0.014 sec and that for HR in Group-I and II were 79.26 ±10.08 and 74.24 ± 7.58 beats/min respectively. The mean QTc and HR values were significantly more in Group-I as compared to Group-II with p value = 0.0001 . Conclusion: Means of both HR and QTc were significantly higher in cirrhotic patients as compared with non-cirrhotic controls.