Effect of pulmonary embolism location on electrocardiological parameters

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Pulmonary thromboembolism is a disease with high morbidity and mortality. Various changes occur on the electrocardiogram secondary to pulmonary thromboembolism. The objective of this study was to investigate variations in QT dispersion, Tpeak-Tend duration, and Tpeak-Tend/QT ratio in relation to pulmonary thromboembolism localization and their impacts on 30-day mortality. METHODS: This study was carried out in a tertiary emergency medicine clinic between December 1, 2019 and November 30, 2020. We evaluated correlations between radiological outcomes of patients, QT dispersions, T-wave dispersions, Tpeak-Tend durations, and Tpeak-Tend/QT ratios. We sought statistically significant disparities between these values, considering the presence or localization of pulmonary thromboembolism. The 30-day mortality in pulmonary thromboembolism-diagnosed patients was reassessed. RESULTS: Electrocardiogramfindings revealed that T-wave dispersion (p<0.001), Tpeak-Tend duration (p=0.034), and Tpeak-Tend/corrected QT ratio (p=0.003) were lower in patients than controls. Conversely, QT dispersion (p=0.005) and corrected QT dispersion (p<0.001) were higher in patients. CONCLUSION: Electrocardiogram findings such as T-wave dispersion, QT duration, Tpeak-Tend time, and Tpeak-Tend/corrected QT ratio can detect pulmonary thromboembolism. More studies with larger cohorts are required to further understand the role of QT and corrected QT dispersion in pulmonary thromboembolism patient mortality.