Presence of fragmented QRS is associated with increased epicardial adipose tissue thickness in hypertensive patients

Abstract

Background: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a cardiometabolic risk factor, and its possible relationship with hypertension has been reported previously. Fragmented QRS (fQRS) detected on electrocardiography (ECG) has been demonstrated to be a marker of myocardial fibrosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the thickness of EAT, and presence of fQRS in hypertensive patients. Methods: Consecutive patients who were diagnosed with hypertension were included in the study. ECG and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were performed to all patients. fQRS was defined as additional R ' wave or notching/splitting of S wave in two contiguous ECG leads. Thickness of EAT was measured by TTE. Results: This study enrolled 69 hypertensive patients with fQRS on ECG and 45 hypertensive patients without fQRS as the control group. Age (P =.869), and gender distribution (P =.751) were similar in both groups. Left atrial diameter (P =.012), interventricular septal thickness (P <.001), posterior wall thickness (P <.001), left ventricular ejection fraction (P =.009), left ventricular mass (P =.006), left ventricular mass ındex (P =.014), left ventricular hypertrophy (P =.003), and EAT thickness (P <.001) were found to be significantly increased in patients with fQRS. In multivariate analysis, among these variables only EAT was observed to be an independent predictor of fQRS (odds ratio:3.306 [95% confidence interval, 0.030-0.118], P =.001). Conclusion: A significant association exists between the presence of fQRS and EAT thickness in hypertensive patients. The presence of fQRS, just as EAT thickness, may be used as a cardiometabolic risk factor in hypertensive patients. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.