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T-Wave Indices and Atherosclerosis

  • Evidence-Based Medicine (L. Roever, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Tpeak-Tend interval, the time difference between the peak and the end of the T-wave, reflects the degree of dispersion of repolarization. Its prolongation has been associated with higher risks of developing ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in different pro-arrhythmic conditions such as Brugada and long QT syndromes. In this review, we will provide a comprehensive overview on how Tpeak-Tend is altered in different atherosclerotic conditions such as hypertension, stable coronary artery disease, acute coronary obstruction, and coronary slow flow as well as inflammatory diseases affecting the arterial tree. We will explore its relationship with arterial function and dysfunction, ventricular remodeling, and arrhythmic and mortality outcomes. The published literature shows that patients with coronary atherosclerosis, whether in the form of stable coronary artery disease, chronic total occlusion, slow flow, or acute coronary obstruction, have prolonged Tpeak-Tend intervals and Tpeak-Tend/QT ratios. These can be used to predict the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. They also correlate with the extent and severity of arterial stenosis and structural remodeling of the ventricles as well as arterial function and dysfunction. Finally, they can be normalized following revascularization and may therefore be used as a surrogate measure of treatment success.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Gary Tse

  2. Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Gary Tse & William K. K. Wu

  3. Department of Cardiology, Evangelismos General Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece

    George Bazoukis, Dimitrios Asvestas & Konstantinos P. Letsas

  4. Department of Clinical Research, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil

    Leonardo Roever

  5. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Ionic-Molecular Function of Cardiovascular disease, Department of Cardiology, Tianjin Institute of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300211, People’s Republic of China

    Tong Liu

  6. Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, LKS Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    William K. K. Wu

  7. JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Martin C. S. Wong

  8. Division of Cardiology, Kingston General Hospital, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Adrian Baranchuk

  9. First Department of Cardiology, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

    Panagiotis Korantzopoulos

  10. Second Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Evangelismos General Hospital of Athens, 10676, Athens, Greece

    Konstantinos P. Letsas

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  1. Gary Tse
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  2. George Bazoukis
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  3. Leonardo Roever
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  4. Tong Liu
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  6. Martin C. S. Wong
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  7. Adrian Baranchuk
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  8. Panagiotis Korantzopoulos
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  9. Dimitrios Asvestas
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  10. Konstantinos P. Letsas
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Gary Tse or Konstantinos P. Letsas.

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Conflict of Interest

Gary Tse, George Bazoukis, Leonardo Roever, Tong Liu, William KK Wu, Martin CS Wong, Adrian Baranchuk, Panagiotis Korantzopoulos, Dimitrios Asvestas, and Konstantinos P. Letsas declare no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Tse, G., Bazoukis, G., Roever, L. et al. T-Wave Indices and Atherosclerosis. Curr Atheroscler Rep 20, 55 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-018-0756-4

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