PR interval identifies clinical response in patients with non-left bundle branch block : a multicenter automatic defibrillator implantation Trial-cardiac resynchronization therapy substudy

BACKGROUND: In MADIT-CRT, patients with non-LBBB (including RBBB, IVCD) did not have clinical benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D). We hypothesized that baseline PR-interval modulates clinical response to CRT-D therapy in patients with non-LBBB. METHODS AND RESULTS: Non-LBBB patients (n=537, 30%) were divided in two groups based on their baseline PR-interval as normal (including minimally prolonged) PR (PR /= 230 ms). The primary end point was heart failure (HF) or death. Separate secondary end points included HF events and all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to compare risk of end point events by CRT-D to ICD therapy in the PR subgroups. There were 96 patients (22%) with a prolonged PR and 438 patients (78%) with a normal PR interval. In non-LBBB patients with a prolonged PR-interval, CRT-D treatment was associated with a 73% reduction in the risk of HF/Death (HR=0.27, 95% CI: 0.13-0.57, p<0.001) and 81% decrease in the risk of all-cause mortality (HR=0.19, 95% CI: 0.13-0.57, p<0.001) compared to ICD therapy. In non-LBBB patients with normal PR, CRT-D therapy was associated with a trend towards an increased risk of HF/Death (HR=1.45, 95% CI: 0.96-2.19, p=0.078, interaction p-value<0.001) and more than a 2-fold higher mortality (HR=2.14, 95% CI: 1.12-4.09, p=0.022, interaction p-value<0.001) compared to ICD therapy. CONCLUSIONS: The data support the use of CRT-D in MADIT-CRT, non-LBBB patients with a prolonged PR-interval. In non-LBBB patients with a normal PR-interval, implantation of a CRT-D may be deleterious. Clinical Trial Registration: http://clinicaltrials.gov; Unique Identifier: NCT00180271

The effects of continuous positive airway pressure therapy withdrawal on cardiac repolarization: data from a randomized controlled trial

AIMS: The preliminary evidence supports an association between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), disturbed cardiac repolarization, and consequent cardiac dysrhythmias. The aim of the current trial was to assess the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy withdrawal on the measures of cardiac repolarization in patients with OSA. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-one OSA patients established on CPAP treatment were randomized to either CPAP withdrawal (subtherapeutic CPAP) or continue therapeutic CPAP for 2 weeks. Polysomnography was performed, and indices of cardiac repolarization (QT(c), TpTe(c) intervals) and dispersion of repolarization (TpTe/QT ratio) were derived from 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) at baseline and 2 weeks. Continuous positive airway pressure withdrawal led to a recurrence of OSA. Compared with therapeutic CPAP, subtherapeutic CPAP for 2 weeks was associated with a significant increase in the length of the QT(c) and TpTe(c) intervals (mean difference between groups 21.4 ms, 95% CI 11.3-1.6 ms, P < 0.001 and 14.4 ms, 95% CI 7.2-21.5 ms, P < 0.001, respectively) and in the TpTe/QT ratio (mean difference between groups 0.02, 95% CI 0.00-0.03, P = 0.020). There was a statistically significant correlation between the change in apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI) from baseline, and both the change in the QT(c) interval and the TpTe(c) interval (r = 0.60, 95% CI 0.36-0.77, P < 0.001 and r = 0.45, 95% CI 0.17-0.67, P = 0.003, n = 41, respectively). CONCLUSION: Continuous positive airway pressure withdrawal is associated with the prolongation of the QT(c) and TpTe(c) intervals and TpTe/QT ratio, which may provide a possible mechanistic link between OSA, cardiac dysrhythmias, and thus sudden cardiac death