Tpeak-end interval/QT interval ratio of ECG predicts sudden cardiac death and malignant Ventricular arrhythmias

Background Recent studies suggest that Tpeak-end interval/QT interval (Tp-e/QT) may be more meaningful to predict malignant arrhythmias. To evaluate its value of forecasting sudden cardiac death, we retrospectively analyzed the Tp-e/QT change in ECG before sudden cardiac death. Methods Collected complete information of 28 patients in our hospital with sudden cardiac death or malignant arrhythmias and 68 healthy adult individuals, Tp-e interval, QT interval and Tp-e/QT ratio in 12-lead ECG before their sudden cardiac death occurred were measured and analyzed. Results The average of Tp-e/QT ratio were 0.21 ± 0.03 in the all healthy adult individuals, less than the patients whose Tp-e/QT ratio were 0.22 ± 0.09 (p<0.01); healthy individuals with Tp-e/QT ratio <0.21 were significantly higher than the patients (p<0.01, 83.82% vs. 32.14%), and the patients with Tp-e/QT ratio ≥ 0.21 were also observably higher than the healthy adult individuals (p<0.01, 67.86% vs.16.18%). 17 patients (17/28, 60.71%) with coronary heart disease had Tp-e/QT ratio ≥ 0.21. Conclusion Tp-e/QT ratio can be as an index in predicting sudden cardiac death.