TY - JOUR
T1 - Electrocardiographic QT interval and mortality
T2 - A meta-analysis
AU - Zhang, Yiyi
AU - Post, Wendy S.
AU - Blasco-Colmenares, Elena
AU - Dalal, Darshan
AU - Tomaselli, Gordon F.
AU - Guallara, Eliseo
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - Background: Extremely abnormal prolongation of the electrocardiographic QT interval is associated with malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. However, the implications of variations in QT-interval length within normal limits for mortality in the general population are still unclear. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis to investigate the relation of QT interval with mortality endpoints. Inverse-variance weighted random-effects models were used to summarize the relative risks across studies. Twenty-three observational studies were included. Results: The pooled relative risk estimates comparing the highest with the lowest categories of QT-interval length were 1.35 (95% confidence interval = 1.24-1.46) for total mortality, 1.51 (1.29-1.78) for cardiovascular mortality, 1.71 (1.36-2.15) for coronary heart disease mortality, and 1.44 (1.01-2.04) for sudden cardiac death. A 50 milliseconds increase in QT interval was associated with a relative risk of 1.20 (1.15-1.26) for total mortality, 1.29 (1.15-1.46) for cardiovascular mortality, 1.49 (1.25-1.76) for coronary heart disease mortality, and 1.24 (0.97-1.60) for sudden cardiac death. Conclusions: We found consistent associations between prolonged QT interval and increased risk of total, cardiovascular, coronary, and sudden cardiac death. QT-interval length is a determinant of mortality in the general population.
AB - Background: Extremely abnormal prolongation of the electrocardiographic QT interval is associated with malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. However, the implications of variations in QT-interval length within normal limits for mortality in the general population are still unclear. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis to investigate the relation of QT interval with mortality endpoints. Inverse-variance weighted random-effects models were used to summarize the relative risks across studies. Twenty-three observational studies were included. Results: The pooled relative risk estimates comparing the highest with the lowest categories of QT-interval length were 1.35 (95% confidence interval = 1.24-1.46) for total mortality, 1.51 (1.29-1.78) for cardiovascular mortality, 1.71 (1.36-2.15) for coronary heart disease mortality, and 1.44 (1.01-2.04) for sudden cardiac death. A 50 milliseconds increase in QT interval was associated with a relative risk of 1.20 (1.15-1.26) for total mortality, 1.29 (1.15-1.46) for cardiovascular mortality, 1.49 (1.25-1.76) for coronary heart disease mortality, and 1.24 (0.97-1.60) for sudden cardiac death. Conclusions: We found consistent associations between prolonged QT interval and increased risk of total, cardiovascular, coronary, and sudden cardiac death. QT-interval length is a determinant of mortality in the general population.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80051547210&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80051547210&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/EDE.0b013e318225768b
DO - 10.1097/EDE.0b013e318225768b
M3 - Article
C2 - 21709561
AN - SCOPUS:80051547210
SN - 1044-3983
VL - 22
SP - 660
EP - 670
JO - Epidemiology
JF - Epidemiology
IS - 5
ER -