QT interval among apparently healthy adults in Enugu, South – East, Nigeria

Physiology 2015 (Cardiff, UK) (2015) Proc Physiol Soc 34, PC011

Poster Communications: QT interval among apparently healthy adults in Enugu, South – East, Nigeria

R. O. Nneli1,2, P. O. Njoku2,3

1. Physiology, Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo (FUNAI), Ikwo, Ebonyi, Nigeria. 2. Physiology, Abia State University Uturu, Uturu, Nigeria. 3. Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria.

View other abstracts by:


Increased prevalence of heart diseases is being reported in World (Araoye, 1982). Ventricular arrhythmias seen in people with long QT interval is a known predisposition to sudden cardiac death (SCD) (Chou, 1991). Electrocardiogram (ECG) is the readily available, cheap, and non-invasive cardiac investigation in use in most hospital and researches. There is paucity of local data on values of the respective waves, intervals and segments of ECG in Nigeria. Establishing the Qt interval range of our people will help identify people who have long QT, thus at risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. One hundred age-matched consenting male and female subjects who are staff of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu and volunteers, who had no clinical evidence of cardiovascular diseases had a resting 12 – lead surface ECG recorded. There were no controls since this was a baseline study. Structured questionnaires were used to obtain their bio-data. The result showed that there was no significant difference between QT intervals of our subjects and the Caucasians. The mean QTC interval was 0.38 +/- 0.025 (males) and 0.41 +/- 0.029 (females) respectively. Abnormal ECG was seen in 14% of subjects studied. QTC was prolonged in 5% males, while all the females had normal values (Oluranti and Taiwo, 2007; Oluwadare and Adams, 2012). The QTC in the subjects were of wider range compared with Caucasian values. The apparently healthy adults had abnormal ECG, and prolonged QT intervals, thus we suggest that the populace should be advised to go for regular medical check – up. The result provides a baseline data for establishing a reference value for QT interval in our locality.



Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.

Site search

Filter

Content Type