Higher Prevalence of Abnormal Electrocardigrams (ECG) in African Americans Undergoing Screening ECG and Echocardiography

The Majority of Participants With Suspected Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Documented During Screening Echocardiography Have a Normal Electrocardiogram

BACKGROUND

Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) usually have abnormal electrocardiograms consistent with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of abnormal ECG findings (LVH, T wave inversion, left bundle branch block, and left atrial enlargement) in participants with suspected HCM detected during screening echocardiography.

METHOD

The Anthony Bates Foundation has been performing screening echocardiography across the United States for the prevention of sudden death since 2001. A total of 682 subjects between the ages of 8 and 71 underwent echocardiographic screening together with ECG documentation. We evaluated the prevalence of abnormal ECG in participants with suspected HCM defined as any left ventricular wall thickness ≥15 mm.

RESULTS

The prevalence of LVH and T wave inversion were higher in HCM subjects as expected [HCM occurred in 23.5% (4/17) vs. 5.6% (37/665), P = 0.002, T wave inversion occurred in 17.6% (3/17) vs. 4.1% (27/664), P = 0.007]. However, despite adding these 2 common ECG abnormalities in this population, the presence of detected abnormal ECG remained less than 25% (23.5% of HCM subjects had LVH or T wave inversion on ECG vs. 8.7% of control, P = 0.036). Left bundle branch block or abnormal left atrium on ECG were not found in any participants with suspected HCM.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of abnormal ECG in the participants with suspected HCM detected during screening echocardiography is less than 25%. This suggests that ECG alone is not a sensitive marker for the detection of HCM.

Baseline Electrocardiographic Abnormalities in Pre-Treatment Cancer Compared With Non-Cancer Patients: A Propensity Score Analysis

Background

Most studies have compared post-treatment electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities in cancer patients to the general population. To assess baseline cardiovascular (CV) risk, we compared pre-treatment ECG abnormalities in cancer patients with a non-cancer surgical population.

Methods

We conducted a combined prospective (n = 30) and retrospective (n = 229) cohort study of patients aged 18 - 80 years with diagnosis of hematologic or solid malignancy, compared with 267 pre-surgical, non-cancer, age- and sex-matched controls. Computerized ECG interpretations were obtained, and one-third of the ECGs underwent blinded interpretation by a board-certified cardiologist (agreement r = 0.94). We performed contingency table analyses using likelihood ratio Chi-square statistics, with calculated odds ratios. Data were analyzed after propensity score matching.

Results

The mean age of cases was 60.97 ± 13.86; and 59.44 ± 11.83 years for controls. Pre-treatment cancer patients had higher likelihood of abnormal ECG (odds ratio (OR): 1.55; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05 to 2.30), and more ECG abnormalities (χ² = 4.0502; P = 0.04) compared with non-cancer patients. ECG abnormalities were higher in black compared to non-black patients (P = 0.001). In addition, baseline ECGs among cancer patients prior to cancer therapy demonstrated less QT prolongation and intra-ventricular conduction defect (P = 0.04); but showed more arrhythmias (P < 0.01) and atrial fibrillation (AF) (P = 0.01) compared with the general patient population.

Conclusions

Based on these findings, we recommend that all cancer patients receive an ECG, a low-cost and widely available tool, as part of their CV baseline screening, prior to cancer treatment.

Worldwide prevalence of early repolarization pattern in general population and physically active individuals: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The early repolarization pattern (ERP) has recently been associated with cardiac events such as ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. However, estimates of the prevalence of ERP vary widely, especially between the general population and physically active individuals. We performed this systematic review and meta-analysis to quantitatively evaluate the worldwide prevalence of ERP in the general population and physically active individuals.

METHODS

We thoroughly searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science, the Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases for relevant studies published until December 20, 2020. Studies in which prevalence was presented or could be estimated from eligible data were included. The pooled prevalence was analyzed using a random-effect model.

RESULTS

Finally, we included 29 studies (182,135 subjects) in the general population and 14 studies (8087 subjects) in the physically active individuals. The worldwide pooled prevalence of ERP in the general population was 11.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.0%-13.3%). The incidence of ERP was 17.0% and 6.2% in men and women, respectively. The prevalence was 20.9% in blacks, 13.4% in Asians, and 10.1% in Caucasians. Additionally, the prevalence of ERP in physically active individuals was 33.9% (95% CI: 25.3%-42.6%).

CONCLUSION

A significant difference in the worldwide prevalence of ERP is revealed in this study. The ERP is highly prevalent in men, blacks, and physically active individuals.

Screening for prevention of sudden death in the young: what is new?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The optimal approach to screening young people to decrease the risk of sudden death remains unknown. It deserves the passionate attention that researchers, clinicians and families have given it. The new data from January 2018 to July 2019 are reviewed here.

RECENT FINDINGS

Cardiac findings associated with a risk of sudden death were reported in 0.4% of screened athletes. Well run programs continue report varying sensitivity for screening ECGs (between 86 and 100%). One major article reported a higher incidence of sudden death in young people than has been previously published (6.8/100 000 athletes).

SUMMARY

The rate of important findings in sophisticated screening programs is approximately 0.4%, suggesting that this is near the population rate of detectable disease in most athletic groups. ECGs are unquestionably capable of detecting disease that can be missed by history and physical, but the performance characteristics of ECGs continue to vary from study to study. In addition, the underlying cost and infrastructure of ECG and echocardiographic screening remains unaddressed by the recent literature. A few small studies have started to look at alternative technology approaches to ECG screening. VIDEO ABSTRACT.