Abstract
Background: The burden of cardiovascular diseases have been become a concerning health challenge throughout the world. Stopping this condition needs applying early, yet inexpensive diagnostic methods. The aim of this study is to evaluate the capacity of fragmented QRS (fQRS) on 12-lead EKG for detecting left ventricular dysfunction in healthy individuals.Methods: Out of 500 healthy participants without detected cardiovascular disorders from Shiraz Heart Study cohort, 20 subjects diagnosed with fQRS (case) and 20 peers without fQRS (control) were participated. Global longitudinal strain was measured by speckle tracking echocardiography for two groups. Comparison was made between case and control groups by using chi-square or independent sample t-test or ANOVA. P value of less than 5% considered statistical significance. Results: There was no difference between the case and the control groups in terms of age, gender, ejection fraction, left ventricular volume and dimensions. Out of 40 subjects, 14 had reduced GLS (≤20%) with 10 of them had fQRS. GLS in the case group was significantly lower than in the control group.Conclusions: Apparent healthy subjects with fQRS diagnosed with left ventricular systolic dysfunction with respect to GLS despite normal ejection fraction. It seems that EKG, as one of the simplest way toward assessing heart function, could be a prominent informative clue to detect high-risk individuals among healthy population in advance.
Two dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography in detection of subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with severe aortic stenosis
