Evaluation of Ventricular Repolarization Markers and Fragmented QRS in Patients with Bipolar Disorder

Abstract

Aim: Bipolar disorder (BD) is one of the chronic psychiatric diseases. It has been reported that cardiovascular diseases are seen twice as often in patients with BD. Fragmented QRS (fQRS) has been found to be associated with myocardial scarring and is used as a marker of arrhythmia and mortality. Ventricular repolarization (VR) is often evaluated using QT interval and T wave measurement data. In our study, we aimed to evaluate fQRS, QTc interval, QT dispersion (QTd), Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT ratio results and VR, together with blood biochemistry parameter results of cases with BD. Material and Method: Our research was conducted with 51 people diagnosed with bipolar disorder and 52 healthy people as the control group. fQRS, QTc interval, QT dispersion (QTd), Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT ratio were measured using 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG). The results of the data obtained from ECG and blood biochemistry parameter levels were used to compare the healthy and patient groups. Results: Tp-e interval (p=0.018) and Tpe/QT ratio (p=0.036) were found to be statistically significantly higher and total cholesterol level (p=0.006) lower in patients with bipolar disorder compared to the control group. Conclusion: An increased Tpe/QT ratio, along with a prolonged Tp-e interval, may be a useful marker of ventricular arrhythmia risk in individuals with fQRS BD.

Keywords

• bipolar disorder
• ventricular repolarization
• electrocardiography
• fragmented QRS

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