ECG-based estimation of dispersion of APD restitution as a tool to stratify sotalol-induced arrhythmic risk.
Mincholé A., Bueno-Orovio A., Laguna P., Pueyo E., Rodriguez B.
BACKGROUND: Increased spatial dispersion of restitution properties has been associated to arrhythmic risk. An ECG-based index quantifying restitution dispersion, DRest, is evaluated in patients who experienced Torsades de Pointes (TdP) under sotalol challenge and compared with the response in healthy subjects. METHODS AND RESULTS: ECG recordings were analyzed for quantification of DRest and QTc, among others biomarkers. DRest provides improved discrimination following sotalol administration between TdP and healthy subjects ([min-max]: [0.18-0.22] vs [0.02-0.12]), compared to other biomarkers including QTc ([436-548ms] vs [376-467ms]). Results in healthy subjects are in agreement with simulations of sotalol effects on a human tissue electrophysiological model. CONCLUSIONS: This case study supports the potential of DRest for improved arrhythmia risk stratification even with QTc values below 450ms.