Sudden cardiac death electrocardiogram

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sara Zand, M.D.[2] José Eduardo Riceto Loyola Junior, M.D.[3] Edzel Lorraine Co, DMD, MD[4] Nehal Eid, M.D.[5]

Overview

An electrocardiogram (ECG) may be helpful in the diagnosis of Sudden cardiac death. Findings on ECG associated with sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) include Sinus tachycardia (39%), abnormal T-wave inversions (30%), prolonged QT interval (26%), left/right atrial abnormality (22%), left ventricular hypertrophy (17%), abnormal frontal QRS axis (17%), delayed QRS-transition zone in precordial leads (13%), pathological Q waves (13%), intraventricular conduction delays (9%), multiple premature ventricular contractions (9%), normal ECG (9%).

Electrocardiogram

An electrocardiogram (ECG) may be helpful in the diagnosis of Sudden cardiac death.

Findings on ECG associated with sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) may include:[1]

  • Sinus tachycardia (39%)
  • Abnormal T-wave inversions (30%)
  • Prolonged QT interval
  • Long QT syndrome (26%) (present in 13% of young adults resuscitated from sudden cardiac arrest)[2]
  • Left/right atrial abnormality (22%)
  • LVH (17%)
  • Abnormal frontal QRS axis (17%)
  • Delayed QRS-transition zone in precordial leads (13%)
  • Pathological Q waves (13%)
  • intraventricular conduction delays (9%)
  • Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome(5%-12% of young adults with cardiac arrest)[2],[3]
  • Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy(10% of young adults with cardiac arrest)[2]
  • Brugada syndrome (<1%).[4]
  • Multiple premature ventricular contractions (9%)
  • Normal ECG (9%)
  • If the ECG shows STEMI or unstable arrhythmia, the patient should be referred for emergency coronary angiography followed by revascularization in case of acute ischemia.

A recently published case report demonstrated a cardiac arrest happening due to a very unusual cause. It was triggered by the increased parasympathethic tone during defecation. The successive changes that were observed on ECG were in this order: prolonged PR interval, 2:1 atrioventricular block, sinus bradycardia and complete heart block. These findings supported the occurrence of a central mechanism in this cardiac arrest.[5]


Repeating 12 lead ECGs are important during evaluation because ECG wave forms, particularly type 1 waveform in Brugada syndrome[6] and the QTinterval, may show day-to-day and circadian variation[7] and variation after the initial resuscitation due to ischemia, autonomic fluctuations, and electrolyte derangements (eg, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia) after sudden cardiac arrest.[8]

Long QT syndrome:

Patients should be evaluated for LQTS, if the corrected QT interval remains at 460 milliseconds or longer for females or 450 milliseconds or longer for males[9] beyond 6 days after resuscitation.[10] It is the most common arrhythmia syndrome causing sudden cardiac arrest.[2] In patients with LQTS, a prolonged QT interval results in the end of the T wave often exceeding half of the RR interval,along with broad,biphasic,or notched T waves with beat-to-beat alternans.[11] In a study of 647 untreated patients older than 28 years with LQTS, 13% experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or sudden death before age 40 years.[12] LQTS can be either congenital or acquired, most commonly due to drugs such as antiarrhythmics,antipsychotics,antidepressants,or antibiotics (a continuously updated list can be found at https://crediblemeds.org/). However, some acquired LQTS cases may have underlying congenital LQTS unmasked by drugs or other predisposing factors such as electrolyte abnormalities (hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypocalcemia) or bradyarrhythmias. Evaluation for acquired LQTS should be reassessed after resolution of these factors.[13]

Brugada syndrome:

In Brugada syndrome, type 1 pattern (ie,coved shape of ST segment) in leads V1 and V2 can sometimes be recorded when these leads are moved to the second or third intercostal spaces instead of the typical fourth intercostal space.[14] In preexcitation syndromes (ie,Wolff-Parkinson-White), the observed delta waves are a marker for potential atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia or VF via preexcited atrial fibrillation.[15] In some cases of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, epsilon waves that represent delayed right ventricular conduction can be observed in the ST segment in the right precordial leads.[16]

2022 ESC Guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrythymias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death [17]

Recommendations for evaluation of patients presenting with newly documented ventricular arryhthmia
Class I (Level of Evidence: C)
Recommendations for evaluation of sudden cardiac arrest survivors
Class IIa (Level of Evidence: C)
Class I (Level of Evidence: B)
Recommendation for management of relatives of a patient with aarhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy
Class I (Level of Evidence: C)
Recommendation for management of relatives of a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Class I (Level of Evidence: C)
Recommendation for diagnosis and management of ventricular arryhthmia in neuromuscular diseases
Class I (Level of Evidence: C)
Class I (Level of Evidence: B)

2017AHA/ACC/HRS Guideline for management of sudden cardiac arrest and ventricular arrhythmia

[18]

Class I (Level of Evidence: B)


Class of recommendation Level of evidence Recommendation for ECG and exercise tredmile test
1 B In patients with wide complex tachycardia and hemodynamically stable, 12 leads ECG should be obtained
1 B Exercise stress test should be obtained in patients suspected arrhythmia-related exercise such as ischemic heart disease or cathecolaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia
1 B In patients with documented ventricular arrhythmia, 12 leads ECG should be obtained during sinus rhythm for evaluation of underlying heart disease

References

  1. Jayaraman, Reshmy; Reinier, Kyndaron; Nair, Sandeep; Aro, Aapo L.; Uy-Evanado, Audrey; Rusinaru, Carmen; Stecker, Eric C.; Gunson, Karen; Jui, Jonathan; Chugh, Sumeet S. (2018). "Risk Factors of Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young". Circulation. 137 (15): 1561–1570. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.031262. ISSN 0009-7322.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Krahn AD, Healey JS, Chauhan V, et al. Systematic assessment of patients with unexplained cardiac arrest: Cardiac Arrest Survivors With Preserved Ejection Fraction Registry (CASPER). Circulation. 2009;120(4):278-285. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.853143
  3. van der Werf C, Hofman N, Tan HL, et al. Diagnostic yield in sudden unexplained death and aborted cardiac arrest in the young: the experience of a tertiary referral center in the Netherlands. Heart Rhythm.2010;7(10):1383-1389. doi:10.1016/j. hrthm.2010.05.036
  4. Maron BJ, Doerer JJ, Haas TS, Tierney DM, Mueller FO. Sudden deaths in young competitive athletes: analysis of 1866 deaths in the United States, 1980-2006.Circulation. 2009;119 (8):1085-1092. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.804617
  5. Tsushima T, Patel TR, Sahadevan J (2021). "Unusual Cause of Cardiac Arrest". JAMA Intern Med. 181 (4): 542–543. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.8370. PMID 33464284 Check |pmid= value (help).
  6. Curcio A, Mazzanti A, Bloise R, et al.Clinical presentation and outcome of Brugada syndrome diagnosed with the new 2013 criteria. JCardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2016;27(8):937-943. doi:10.1111/jce. 12997
  7. Jeyaraj D, Haldar SM, Wan X, et al.Circadian rhythms govern cardiac repolarization and arrhythmogenesis. Nature. 2012;483(7387):96-99. doi:10.1038/nature10852
  8. Salerno DM, Asinger RW, Elsperger J, Ruiz E, Hodges M. Frequency of hypokalemia after successfully resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest compared with that in transmural acute myocardial infarction. Am J Cardiol. 1987;59(1):84 88. doi:10.1016/S0002-9149(87)80075-9
  9. Vink AS, Neumann B, Lieve KVV, et al. Determination and interpretation of the QT interval. Circulation. 2018;138(21):2345-2358. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.033943
  10. Cohen RB, Dai M, Aizer A, et al. QT interval dynamics and triggers for QTprolongation immediately following cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. 2021;162:171-179. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2021.02. 029
  11. Krahn AD, Laksman Z, Sy RW, et al.Congenital long QT syndrome.JACCClinElectrophysiol. 2022;8 (5):687-706. doi:10.1016/j.jacep.2022.02.017
  12. Priori SG, Schwartz PJ, Napolitano C, et al. Risk stratification in the long-QT syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003;348(19):1866-1874. doi:10.1056/ NEJMoa022147
  13. Zeppenfeld K, Tfelt-Hansen J, de Riva M, et al; ESC Scientific Document Group. 2022 ESC guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death. EurHeartJ. 2022;43(40): 3997-4126. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehac262
  14. Zeppenfeld K,Tfelt-Hansen J, de Riva M, et al; ESC Scientific Document Group. 2022 ESC guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death. EurHeartJ. 2022;43(40): 3997-4126. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehac262
  15. Pappone C, Vicedomini G, Manguso F, et al. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome in the era of catheter ablation: insights from a registry study of 2169 patients. Circulation. 2014;130(10):811-819. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.011154
  16. Marcus FI, Fontaine GH, Guiraudon G, et al. Right ventricular dysplasia: a report of 24 adult cases. Circulation. 1982;65(2):384-398. doi:10.1161/ 01.CIR.65.2.384
  17. Zeppenfeld K, Tfelt-Hansen J, de Riva M, Winkel BG, Behr ER, Blom NA; et al. (2022). "2022 ESC Guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death". Eur Heart J. 43 (40): 3997–4126. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehac262. PMID 36017572 Check |pmid= value (help).
  18. Al-Khatib, Sana M.; Stevenson, William G.; Ackerman, Michael J.; Bryant, William J.; Callans, David J.; Curtis, Anne B.; Deal, Barbara J.; Dickfeld, Timm; Field, Michael E.; Fonarow, Gregg C.; Gillis, Anne M.; Granger, Christopher B.; Hammill, Stephen C.; Hlatky, Mark A.; Joglar, José A.; Kay, G. Neal; Matlock, Daniel D.; Myerburg, Robert J.; Page, Richard L. (2018). "2017 AHA/ACC/HRS Guideline for Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death". Circulation. 138 (13). doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000549. ISSN 0009-7322.

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