Background: Deceleration Capacity (DC) derived from 24-hour Holter recordings is a strong predictor of mortality in patients after acute myocardial infarction (MI). This prospective cohort study investigates the predictive power of DC derived from short-term recordings.
Methods: 938 survivors of acute MI (age ≤80 years, sinus rhythm) were included. Within one week after index infarction, 30-min high resolution ECGs (1600Hz, supine position and resting conditions) as well as 24h-Holter recordings were performed. Short-term DC (DCs) and long-term DC (DCl) were calculated according to the previously published technology. Primary endpoint was death from any cause at two years. Multivariate Cox-regression analyses were adjusted for LVEF ≤30% and clinical covariates.
Results: During the 2-year follow-up, 36 patients (3.8%) died. Both, DCs and DCl were strong predictors of death with areas under the receiver-operator characteristics curves of 76.3% and 77.8%, respectively (p<0.0001). DCs was significantly correlated with DCl (r=0.7, p<0.0001). After adjustment for LVEF, presence of diabetes mellitus, advanced age and history of a previous MI, DCs (≤2.5ms) remained a highly significant predictor of death (Table
).
Conclusion: DC derived from high-resolution short-term ECGs is a strong and significant predictor of death in post-infarction patients.
Multivariate Cox regression analysis for Prediction of 2y-Mortality
96-71: Altered heart rate variability in long QT syndrome assessed by 24 hour holter recordings