[Dynamics of ventricular repolarisation]

Abstract

The clinical value of assessing the QT interval is obvious as it is a marker of ventricular depolarisation and repolarisation and it allows identification of clinical situations carrying a high risk of ventricular fibrillation and sudden death. Until the last few years, analysis of ventricular repolarisation was based on analysis of conventional surface electrocardiography. Technical difficulties explain the limits of our knowledge of the dynamics of ventricular repolarisation. This situation is beginning to change rapidly by computerised analysis of Holter monitoring, opening up a particularly complex and important field of research. The duration of the QT interval depends on different factors, especially changes in electrolyte balance, effects of certain drugs, and changes in heart rate and autonomic nervous system tone. The difficulty resides in selecting the pertinent data in order to study separately the effects of heart rate and those of the autonomic nervous system. The initial results show that this analysis provides important information for diagnosis and probably prognosis, on the status of the myocardium and the action of the autonomous nervous system. They require confirmation and validation on larger series of patients with different pathological conditions.