Comparative Study of Electrocardiographic and Echocardiographic Evidence of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Systemic Hypertension

Background and Aims: Hypertension is a common health problem. Left ventricular hypertrophy, a condition in hypertension is a risk factor for myocardial infarction, stroke and heart failure. This study aims to detect left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive patients using Electrocardiography and echocardiography. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study; 143 patients of Hypertension from February 2019 to August 2019 were enrolled. They were evaluated for left ventricular hypertrophy using electrocardiography and echocardiography. Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell Voltage electrocardiographic criteria were used and their sensitivities and specificities to detect left ventricular hypertrophy were calculated taking echocardiography as a gold standard method. Results: The mean age of the study population was 58.69 ± 11.33 years. Mean duration of hypertension was 4.72 ±3.2 years. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure were 137 ± 15.42 mmHg and 84 ± 10.5 mmHg respectively. Out of 143 study population, 30(21%) of them had left ventricular hypertrophy on electrocardiography as defined by Sokolow-Lyon criteria, and 29(20.3%) had left ventricular hypertrophy on electrocardiography as per Cornell Voltage criteria. On combining both Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell Voltage criteria, 37(25.9%) of the study population had left ventricular hypertrophy on electrocardiography (either as per Sokolow-Lyon or Cornell Voltage criteria). On echocardiography, 62(43.4%) of them were found to have left ventricular hypertrophy. Conclusions: Electrocardiography is a less sensitive tool to diagnose Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in hypertension but its specificity is high (>95%). Investigation of choice to detect Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in hypertensive people is still the echocardiography.

Comparative study of echocardiography and electrocardiography criteria for detecting left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive patients

Background: The study aimed to compare seven different electrocardiogram (LVH) criteria for diagnosing left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) with echocardiogram as diagnostic standard in hypertensive patients.Methods: This was a hospital-based, cross-sectional study conducted in out-patient department and at medical wards of a tertiary care hospital at Bangalore. The study was carried out for a total duration of 12 months. All hypertensive patients underwent examination for prevalence of LVH using echocardiogram and ECG. Seven different ECG criteria were applied to diagnose the presence of LVH. Then the specificity, sensitivity, kappa measurement value, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for all criteria was calculated subsequently.Results: Out of the 100 patients studied, 34 had LVH as diagnosed by echocardiography. Sokolow-Lyon criteria had a sensitivity of 35% and specificity of 94%. Cornell voltage had a sensitivity of 26% and specificity of 95%. Modified Cornell voltage had a sensitivity of32% and specificity of 94%. Framingham adjusted Cornell voltage, Minnesota code and Cornell product had a sensitivity of 23.5% and specificity of 98.4%. Framingham score had a sensitivity of 38% and specificity of 95.4%.Conclusions: It can be concluded that among all the different criteria used in the study, Framingham score showed better sensitivity compared to others. In the evaluation of hypertensive patients for LVH, the role of ECG with all the commonly used criteria is of limited value and echocardiography is the method of choice.

Study of Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in type-II diabetic patients

Cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a frequent and intractable complication of diabetes. Reduction in heart rate variability (HRV) is the first sign of CAN in its subclinical stage. Autonomic imbalance and hyperglycaemia in diabetes are associated with cardiovascular structural and functional modifications, which lead to left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The study was undertaken to assess the changes in HRV and left ventricular mass in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. The case-control study was conducted on 78 T2DM subjects and 78 age & sex-matched healthy controls. CAN be assessed by frequency and time-domain parameters of HRV and LVH was measured using various ECG criteria including Cornell voltage, Cornell product, Sokolow-Lyon voltage, and Romhilt-Estes point score. All the frequency and time-domain parameters of HRV except resting heart rate, normalized LF, and LF/HF ratio were significantly reduced in T2DM patients compared to healthy controls. The prevalence of ECG-LVH was 25.7% using any single criteria and 12.2% with all the criteria. The highest prevalence (24.3%) was noted with Cornell product and Sokolow-Lyon voltage criteria, followed by Romhilt-Estes point score (17.6%) and Cornell voltage criteria (16.2%). Reduction in overall HRV with less high-frequency power and high LF/HF ratio suggests parasympathetic dysfunction and sympathetic predominance. A significant LVH was noted with ECG-based electric criteria in T2DM patients. The study suggests that T2DM patients should be subjected to diagnostic HRV and ECG to identify the early occurrence of CAN and LVH.

Electrocardiographic Versus Echocardiographic Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Severe Aortic Stenosis

Although ECG used to be a traditional method to detect left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), its importance has decreased over the years and echocardiography has emerged as a routine technique to diagnose LVH. Intriguingly, an independent negative prognostic effect of the “electrical” LVH (i.e., by ECG voltage criteria) beyond echocardiographic LVH was demonstrated both in hypertension and aortic stenosis (AS), the most prevalent heart valve disorder. Our aim was to estimate associations of the ECG-LVH voltage criteria with echocardiographic LVH and indices of AS severity. We retrospectively manually analyzed ECG tracings of 50 patients hospitalized in our center for severe isolated aortic stenosis, including 32 subjects with echocardiographic LVH. The sensitivity of single traditional ECG-LVH criteria in detecting echocardiographic LVH was 9–34% and their respective specificity averaged 78–100%. The ability to predict echocardiographic LVH was higher for S-waves than R-waves (mean area under the receiver operating curve (AUC): 0.62–0.70 vs. 0.58–0.65). Among combinations of R- and S-waves, the discriminating ability was highest for the Cornell voltage (AUC: 0.71) compared to the Sokolow–Lyon, Romhilt and Gubner–Ungerleider voltage (AUC: 0.62–0.68). By multiple regression, peak aortic pressure gradient was positively related to the Sokolow–Lyon (β = 1.7 ± 0.5, p = 0.002) and Romhilt voltage (β = 1.3 ± 0.5, p = 0.01), but not Cornell (0.5 ± 0.3, p = 0.2) or Gubner-Ungerleider voltage (β = 0.0 ± 0.5, p > 0.9), regardless of LV mass index. In conclusion, echocardiographic LVH and stenosis severity appear to have distinct associations with traditional ECG-LVH criteria in AS. A moderate diagnostic superiority of the Cornell voltage criterion with regard to anatomic LVH might result from its unique ability to include depolarization vectors in both the frontal and horizontal plane with consequent lesser sensitivity to the confounding effect of obesity.

Peguero-Lo Presti criteria for the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The Peguero-Lo Presti criteria are novel electrocardiographic (ECG) diagnostic criteria for the detection of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and represent the sum of the amplitude of the deepest S wave in any lead with the S wave in lead V4 (SD+SV4). The diagnostic efficacy of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria in LVH is still debatable. We aimed to test the sensitivity and specificity of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria and compared them with those of the Cornell voltage index to assess their overall performance in LVH diagnosis. Methods Electronic databases (e.g., Medline, Web of Knowledge, Embase, and the Cochrane Library) were searched from their inception until May 18, 2020. Trials written in English that investigated the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria for detecting LVH were included. Data were independently extracted and analyzed by two investigators. Results A total of 51 records were screened, and 6 trials comprising 13,564 patients were finally included. A bivariate analysis showed that the sensitivity of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria (0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.46–0.58) was higher than that of the Cornell voltage index (0.29, 95% CI 0.23–0.36) and Sokolow-Lyon criteria (0.24, 95% CI 0.21–0.27); the diagnostic accuracy of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria (0.69, 95% CI 0.65–0.73) was also higher than that of the Cornell voltage index (0.67, 95% CI 0.62–0.71) and Sokolow-Lyon criteria (0.28, 95% CI 0.25–0.32); and the specificity of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria (0.85, 95% CI 0.79–0.90) was similar to that of the Cornell voltage index (0.92, 95% CI 0.89–0.95) and Sokolow-Lyon criteria (0.94, 95%CI 0.88–0.97). Two trials (including 12,748 patients) were discharged because they included partly healthy subjects and accounted for substantial heterogeneity. Pooled analysis of the remaining 4 trials (including 816 patients) showed that the sensitivity of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria (0.56, 95% CI 0.51–0.61) was also higher than that of the Cornell voltage index (0.36, 95% CI 0.31–0.42) and Sokolow-Lyon criteria (0.24, 95% CI 0.18–0.31); the diagnostic accuracy of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria (0.84, 95% CI 0.80–0.87) was also higher than that of the Cornell voltage index (0.54, 95% CI 0.50–0.58) and Sokolow-Lyon criteria (0.38, 95% CI 0.34–0.42); and the specificity of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria (0.90, 95% CI 0.87–0.92) was similar to that of the Cornell voltage index (0.93, 95% CI 0.88–0.96) and Sokolow-Lyon criteria (0.97, 95% CI 0.90–0.99). Both the likelihood ratio and posttest probability of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria and Cornell voltage index were moderate. Conclusion Based on this systematic review and meta-analysis, the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria-based ECG diagnostic method for LVH has high sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy and should be applied in clinical practice settings.

Cornell voltage left ventricular hypertrophy predicts all-cause mortality better than Sokolow-Lyon voltage in patients with and without diabetes – data from 183,749 primary care ECGs

Background Cornell voltage criteria (CL) and Sokolow-Lyon criteria (SL) for electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG-LVH) are well known predictors of cardiovascular outcome. However, their predictive value may differ according to patient type and remains to be further tested in diabetic mellitus (DM) patients. Purpose The present study aims to determine the prevalence of each ECG-LVH criteria and their respective predictive value in DM patients. Method A retrospective cohort study of individuals age >40 years with digital ECGs from primary care were collected during 2001 to 2011. Data on medication, comorbidity, and outcomes were collected from Danish nationwide registries. DM was defined if individuals were prescribed oral antidiabetics or insulin, if they were diagnosed with DM type I or II, or had a HbA1c>48 mmol/l. Cox multivariable analysis was used for estimating hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for all-cause mortality during follow-up of up to 17 years. Results Included were 183,749 individuals with a digital ECG collected in primary care. A total of 13,003 (7.1%) individuals had DM, they were older (65.8 vs. 61.3 years), had more myocardial infarction (16.1% vs. 5.2%), stroke (14.4% vs. 6.2%), hypertension (35.1% vs. 13.2%), CL LVH (8.0% vs. 5.6%) and more were males (53.3% vs. 45.3%) compared to the non-DM individuals (all p<0.001). CL identified a larger percentage of LVH in DM compared to non-DM individuals (8.0% vs. 5.6%, p<0.001), whereas SL identified similar percentage LVH in DM and non-DM individuals (8.5% vs. 8.1%, p=0.068). In multivariable adjusted analysis CL LVH remained strongly associated with all-cause mortality [HR 1.45 (95% CI: 1.42–1.48)] compared to SL LVH which found only a modest association [HR 1.06 (95% CI: 1.03–1.10)] (Figure 1). Of note, the association of CL LVH and all-cause mortality was even stronger than DM per se. There was no interaction with DM and either ECG LVH criteria (p>0.45). Conclusion Cornell Voltage Left Ventricular Hypertrophy is a strong predictor of mortality in patients with and without diabetes and an independent risk factor compared to hypertension and diabetes. The predictive value was substantially stronger than Sokolow-Lyon Voltage criteria for hypertrophy. Figure 1. LVH and all-cause mortality Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Performance of Electrocardiographic Criteria for Echocardiographically Diagnosed Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Chinese Hypertensive Patients

BACKGROUND Performance of electrocardiographic (ECG) criteria for echocardiographically diagnosed left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in Chinese hypertensive patients is not well known. We investigated the accuracy of various ECG criteria for the diagnosis of the echocardiographic LVH according to the new cutoff values of left ventricular mass (LVM) index (>115 g/m2 for men and >95 g/m2 for women) in Chinese hypertensive patients. METHODS Our study included 702 consecutive hypertensive inpatients including 92 (13.1%) concentric and 121 (17.2%) eccentric LVH on standard echocardiography. Diagnostic accuracy of 7 ECG criteria was evaluated by calculating sensitivity and specificity and by using the receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS The ECG criteria for the detection of the echocardiographically defined LVH had a sensitivity of 15%–31.9% and specificity of 91.6%–99.2% overall, 20.7%–43.5% and 91.6%–99.2% concentric, and 7.4%–23.1% and 91.6%–99.2% eccentric. ECG diagnosis of LVH defined as the positive diagnosis of any of 4 ECG criteria including Sokolow–Lyon voltage, Cornell voltage, Cornell product, and RavL voltage had a sensitivity of 54% and specificity of 86.3% overall, 71.7% and 86.3% concentric, and 40.5% and 86.3% eccentric. After adjustment for confounding factors, various ECG criteria were significantly correlated with LVM, with standardized β coefficients from 0.20 to 0.39 (P < 0.001) and the highest coefficient for the Cornell product criterion. CONCLUSIONS All ECG LVH indexes had low sensitivity and high specificity in Chinese hypertensive patients. Combination of 4 or all ECG criteria might improve sensitivity without any loss of specificity.

Does Sex Modify an Association of Electrophysiological Substrate with Sudden Cardiac Death? The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

BackgroundSex is a well-recognized risk factor for sudden cardiac death (SCD). Sex differences in electrophysiological (EP) substrate of SCD are known. However, it remains unknown whether sex can modify an association of EP substrate with SCD.MethodsParticipants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study with analyzable ECGs (n=14,725; age, 54.2±5.8 yrs; 55% female, 74% white) were included. EP substrate was characterized by traditional 12-lead ECG (heart rate, QRS, QTc, Cornell voltage), spatial ventricular gradient (SVG) and sum absolute QRST integral (SAI QRST) metrics. Two competing outcomes were adjudicated SCD and nonSCD. Interaction of ECG metrics with sex was studied in Cox proportional hazards and Fine-Gray competing risk models. Relative hazard ratio (RHR) and relative sub-hazard ratio (RSHR) with a 95% confidence interval for SCD and nonSCD risk for women relative to men were calculated. Model 1 was adjusted for prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk factors. Time-updated model 2 was additionally adjusted for incident non-fatal CVD.ResultsOver a median follow-up of 24.4 years, there were 530 SCDs (incidence 1.72 (1.58-1.88)/1000 person-years) and 2,178 nonSCDs (incidence 7.09; (6.80-7.39)/ 1000 person-years). Women experienced a greater than men risk of SCD associated with Cornell voltage (RHR 1.18(1.06-1.32); P=0.003), SAI QRST (RHR 1.16(1.04-1.30); P=0.007), area SVG magnitude (RHR 1.24(1.05-1.45); P=0.009), and peak SVG magnitude (RHR 1.22(1.04-1.44); P=0.018), independently from incident CVD. Greater risk of SCD for women than men associated with QRS duration (RHR 1.24(1.07-1.44); P=0.004) and QTc (RSHR 1.15(1.02-1.30); P=0.025) was explained by incident CVD. Furthermore, women had greater odds of SCD associated with heart rate (RSHR 1.19(1.01-1.40); P=0.036), independently of incident CVD.ConclusionsSex modifies an association of EP substrate with SCD. In women, global EP substrate is associated with up to 27% greater risk of SCD than in men. Development of sex-specific risk scores of SCD is necessary. Further studies of mechanisms behind sex differences in EP substrate of SCD are warranted.

Abstract 155: Prevalence and Clinical Correlates of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy by Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell Electrocardiogram Voltage Criteria in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Patients

Background and Hypothesis: The sensitivity of LVH analysis by ECG voltage criteria in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis undergoing trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has not yet been studied. LVH is expected in the TAVR population and would be reflected in voltage criteria by ECG. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted in 176 consecutive TAVR patients without ventricular-paced rhythm. ECG data was collected and analyzed by Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell Voltage criteria. Results were compared to transthoracic echocardiogram. Analyses of variation, correlation, chi-square, and logistic regression were used. The study was approved by the institutional IRB. Results: Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell Voltage criteria for LVH were present and concordant in 19% (33 of 176) of patients; in 49% (86 of 176) of patients, neither criteria was suggestive for LVH. Only 19% (34 of 176) of patients had LVH by Cornell Voltage and 13% (23 of 176) by Sokolow-Lyon criteria, indicative of poor concordance between these two commonly used ECG criteria for LVH (p<0.0001). Ejection fraction, aortic valve gradient, aortic valve area, COPD, PVD, prior stroke, dyslipidemia, and hypertension did not affect the prevalence of LVH by either or both criteria. Women (p<0.01) and patients with rhythm other than atrial fibrillation (p<0.0053) were more likely to have voltage criteria for LVH, while older adults were more likely to meet criteria for LVH. Concordant LVH criteria were noted in patients 84.6 +/- 7.2 years of age, while patients without LVH by ECG voltage criteria were significantly younger at 80.21 +/- 8.1 years of age (p<0.007). Conclusion: The presence of LVH by Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell ECG voltage criteria poorly correlates with the presence of LVH and critical aortic stenosis in TAVR patients. Women are more likely to have voltage criteria for LVH. Therefore, ECG may not be a suitable method of screening patients with severe aortic stenosis for LVH, especially in men.