Highlights
- •PWE had increased values of QTc and QTcd when compared to patients with PNESs.
- •QTc - QTcd values do not demonstrate any difference between patients with FE and GE.
- •PR interval is prolonged in PWE with left sided and extratemporal foci.
Abstract
Objectives
Cardiac disturbances and rhythm abnormalities which potentially lead sudden unexpected
death in epilepsy, have been extensively studied in focal epilepsies. However, studies
including generalized epilepsies are scarce and it is not clear whether electrocardiogram
parameters reflecting vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias differ between these
groups.
Methods
Medical records of patients who were followed in epilepsy department of a tertiary
center between October 2015 and September 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. 66 generalized
and 64 focal epilepsy patients with eligible electrophysiological data were analyzed.
QTc interval, QTcd and other electrocardiographic indices were compared between patients
with focal vs generalized epilepsy. Another analysis was performed in order to disclose
any difference between patients with epilepsy (n:130) and psychogenic non-epileptic
seizures. A two-tailed p value < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results
There was no difference in terms of QTc and QTcd between patients with focal and generalized
epilepsy [median: 406 ms vs 404 ms, p = 0.119; and median: 46 ms vs 44 ms, p = 0.497,
respectively]. However patients with epilepsy were found to have longer QTc and QTcd
when compared to ones with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (p = 0.035 and p < 0.001,
respectively).
Conclusion
Current findings demonstrate that patients with epilepsy have longer QTc and QTcd
than patients with pure psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. Since there was no difference
between patients with focal and generalized epilepsy; QTc interval, QTcd and potential
susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias as a result, could be a consequence of epilepsy
itself regardless of origin.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
August 17,
2022
Received:
May 4,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
