This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 116/7/714    most recent CIRCULATIONAHA.106.676551v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Anttonen, O. Articles by Huikuri, H.V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Anttonen, O. Articles by Huikuri, H.V. Related Collections Electrocardiology Arrhythmias, clinical electrophysiology, drugs Epidemiology

(Circulation. 2007;116:714-720.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.

Epidemiology

Prevalence and Prognostic Significance of Short QT Interval in a Middle-Aged Finnish Population

O. Anttonen, MD; M.J. Junttila, MD; H. Rissanen, MSc; A. Reunanen, MD; M. Viitasalo, MD; H.V. Huikuri, MD

From the Department of Medicine (O.A.), Päijät-Häme Central Hospital, Lahti, Finland; National Public Health Institute (H.R., A.R.), Helsinki, Finland; Department of Cardiology (M.V.), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; and Department of Internal Medicine (M.J.J., H.V.H.), University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

Correspondence to Dr Olli Anttonen, Department of Medicine, Päijät-Häme Central Hospital, Keskussairalankatu 7, 15850, Lahti, Finland. E-mail olli.anttonen{at}phsotey.fi

Received November 15, 2006; accepted June 4, 20007.

Background— Short-QT syndrome is an inherited disorder characterized by a short QT interval and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. The clinical significance of a short QT interval observed in a randomly recorded ECG is not known. Therefore, we assessed the prevalence and prognostic significance of a short QT interval in a general population.

Methods and Results— QT intervals were measured from the 12-lead ECGs of 10 822 randomly selected middle-aged subjects (5658 males, mean age 44±8.4 years) enrolled in a population study and followed up for 29±10 years. The end points were all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. In addition to Bazett’s method (corrected QT interval, or QTc), the Fridericia (QTfc) and nomogram (QTnc) methods were used to correct the QT interval for heart rate. The cutoff values for short QT intervals were defined as 320 ms (very short) and 340 ms (short). The prevalence of QT interval <320 ms based on QTc, QTfc, and QTnc was 0.10%, 0.08%, and 0.06%, and the prevalence of QT interval <340 ms was 0.4%, 0.3%, and 0.3%, respectively. The majority of subjects with short QT intervals were males. All-cause or cardiovascular mortality did not differ between subjects with a very short or short QT interval and those with normal QT intervals (360 to 450 ms). There were no sudden cardiac deaths, aborted sudden cardiac deaths, or documented ventricular tachyarrhythmias among subjects with a QTfc <340 ms.

Conclusion— A short QT interval does not appear to indicate an increased risk for all-cause or cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged nonreferral, community-based individuals.

---

 

CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Ding, W. Hua, H. Niu, K. Chen, and S. Zhang Primary prevention of sudden cardiac death using implantable cardioverter defibrillators Europace, June 16, 2008; (2008) eun150v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]