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Background: Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) is a relatively rare cardiac abnormality with high rates of mortality and morbidity. T-wave amplitudes during ventricular repolarization in lead aVR (TaVR) have been reported to be associated with the prognosis of various cardiovascular diseases. This study sought to investigate the prevalence and prognostic role of positive TaVR in patients with NCCM., Methods: We evaluated consecutive 161 patients with NCCM (65.8% men, mean age 42.5 ± 15.2 years old). Presentation electrocardiogram was assessed regarding classical parameters as well as T-wave amplitudes in lead aVR. The primary endpoint was defined as composite lethal arrhythmic events, including sudden cardiac death, ventricular fibrillation, or sustained ventricular tachycardia or appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shock. Heart failure requiring hospitalization, cardiovascular death, and all-cause mortality were also investigated as secondary endpoints., Results: Patients with positive TaVR showed higher rates for arrhythmic events, hospitalization for heart failure, and death compared with patients without it. In multivariate Cox model, after adjusting for other known clinical and electrocardiographic risk factors, the positive TaVR was found to be a strong independent predictor of primary endpoint (HR: 4.8, 95% CI: 1.2-19.3; p = .025) and all-cause death (HR: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.0-12.1; p = .045)., Conclusion: Our findings revealed that positive TaVR is significantly and independently associated with adverse outcomes in NCCM patients. This unique ECG criterion in the often ignored lead provides incremental information beyond what is available with other traditional risk factors., (© 2019 The Authors. Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC.)

Background: Fragmented QRS (fQRS) complex, with various morphology, has been recently described as a diagnostic criterion of several cardiac diseases. However, there are little data regarding the prognostic role of fQRS in peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) patients. We aimed to investigate the effect of fQRS on predicting left ventricular (LV) nonrecovery in patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM)., Methods: Ninety patients (mean age: 34.7 ± 6.5 years) with the diagnosis of PPCM were analyzed retrospectively. The median follow-up period of was 67.0 (12.0-192.0) months. Fragmented QRS was defined as the presence of various RSR' patterns (QRS duration < 120 ms) with or without Q wave, which include an additional R wave (R' prime) or notching of the R wave or S wave, or the presence of more than one R' (fragmentation) without typical bundle branch block. Recovery of LV function was defined as the presence of LV ejection fraction (EF) >45%., Results: Of the patients, 54 (60%) did not recover LV function at the last follow-up visit (nonrecovery group), while 36 of the patients (40%) exhibited LV recovery (recovery group). LV ejection fraction (EF) and fQRS were identified as independent predictors of LV nonrecovery in patients with PPCM (odds ratio OR: 5.546, 95% confidence interval CI: 0.792-0.979, p = .019 and OR: 5.986, 95% CI: 1.313-11.787, p = .014, respectively)., Conclusion: Our data firstly indicated that presence of fQRS was a significant predictor of LV nonrecovery in patients with PPCM. The fQRS might assist in identifying high-risk patients., (© 2019 The Authors. Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC.)

The clinical significance of poor nutritional status in patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is not clearly understood. Prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is a simple nutritional assessment tool, which was first demonstrated to be valuable in patients with colorectal surgeries. We aimed to investigate the predictive value of PNI in patients with PPCM.A total of 92 patients diagnosed with PPCM were enrolled in this study. PNI was calculated using the following formula: 10 × serum albumin value (g/dL) + 0.005 × total lymphocyte count. The primary endpoint was defined as composite adverse cardiac events that included cardiac death or hospitalization due to worsening heart failure (HF). Cardiac death, hospitalization due to worsening HF, and persistent left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction were evaluated, respectively, as secondary endpoints.Primary composite endpoint was higher in the lower PNI group. After adjusting for other risk factors, PNI was found to be as an independent predictor of primary composite endpoint (odds ratio 0.805; 95% confidence interval 0.729-0.888; P < .001). In addition, PNI was significantly associated with secondary endpoints; persistent LV systolic dysfunction as well as cardiac death.This study identified nutritional status assessed by the PNI seems to be a novel predictor of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with PPCM.

Background: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication of pregnancy. There is limited data regarding the predictors of persistent left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction. Recently, monocyte-to-high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio (MHR) has emerged as a novel indicator of inflammation and oxidative stress. We aimed to assess the predictive value of MHR on LV recovery in patients with PPCM., Methods: A total of 64 patients with PPCM who admitted to our tertiary reference hospital between 2009 and 2017 were retrospectively analyzed in this study. Demographic and clinical data, laboratory parameters and echocardiographic findings were recorded. The duration of follow-up was at least 12 months after diagnosis for all participants. Recovery of LV systolic function was defined as the presence of LV ejection fraction (LV EF) > 45%. Univariate analysis was used to determine the significant predictors of persistent LV systolic dysfunction (non-recovery). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to establish the cut-off values for predictors., Results: The mean follow-up duration was 72.1 ± 5.5 months. Of the 64 patients, 35 (55%) had persistent LVSD at their last follow-up while 29 (45%) showed LV EF improvement. The baseline MHR levels were significantly higher in the non-recovery group (P < 0.001). In univariate analysis, increased MHR levels (odds ratio:1.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.35; P < 0.001) significantly predicted LV non-recovery. Using a cut-off level of 9.73, MHR predicted persistent LV systolic dysfunction with a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 79%. Besides, lower baseline LVEF increased WBC and CRP levels were identified as predictors of LV non-recovery., Conclusions: Our data firstly indicated that elevated MHR was a significant predictor of persistent LV systolic dysfunction in PPCM. The MHR might contribute to determining high-risk patients with PPCM.

Background: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is an uncommon complication of pregnancy. Clinical courses of PPCM are markedly heterogeneous. Positive T waves in lead aVR (TaVR) are shown to be associated with adverse cardiac events in several cardiovascular diseases. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and prognostic role of positive TaVR in patients with PPCM., Methods: A total of 82 patients (mean age 29.1 ± 6.3 years) with the diagnosis of PPCM were enrolled. Presentation electrocardiogram (ECG) was investigated for presence of a positive TaVR. The median follow-up duration was 67.0 months. The primary endpoint was defined as composite cardiac events, including cardiac death, arrhythmic events, or persistent left ventricular systolic dysfunction., Results: Patients with positive T wave in lead aVR showed higher rates for persistent left ventricular systolic dysfunction, arrhythmic events, and cardiac death compared to patients without it. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for other confounding factors, the presence of positive TaVR was found to be as an independent and strong predictor of primary composite endpoint (odds ratio 6.21, 95% CI 1.45-26.51; p = 0.014). In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, both primary and secondary endpoints occurred more frequently in the positive TaVR group. Using the cut-off level of 0.25 mV, T-wave amplitude in lead aVR predicted primary endpoint with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 100%., Conclusion: Positive T wave in lead aVR, as a simple and feasible electrocardiographic marker, seems to be a novel predictor of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with PPCM., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and prognostic role of fragmented QRS complex (fQRS) in predicting arrhythmic events and cardiovascular mortality in patients with noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCC). A total of 88 patients (64.8% men, mean age 38.6 ± 17.7 years) with the diagnosis of NCC were enrolled. Median follow-up time was 42.4 months. The fQRS was defined as the presence of ≥1 additional R wave (R') or notch on the R/S waves in ≥2 contiguous leads representing anterior (V1 to V5), inferior (II, III, and aVF), or lateral (I, aVL, and V6) myocardial segments. Compared to patients without fQRS group, patients with fQRS (fQRS (+) group) showed higher rates for total arrhythmic events, ventricular tachycardia, bradyarrhythmia requiring pacemaker, sudden cardiac death, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality. The cut-off point of ≥3 leads for the fQRS was the optimal point discriminating an arrhythmic event and cardiovascular mortality. In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, total arrhythmic events and cardiovascular mortality occurred more frequently in the fQRS (+) group. In multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, after adjusting for other confounding factors, the presence of fQRS were found to be as an independent predictor of arrhythmic events (hazard ratio 3.850, 95% CI 1.062 to 9.947, p = 0.002) and cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio 2.719, 95% CI 1.494 to 9.262, p = 0.005). In conclusion, the presence of fQRS complex, as a simple and feasible electrocardiographic marker, seems to be a novel predictor of arrhythmic events and cardiovascular mortality in patients with NCC. This simple parameter may be used in identifying patients at high risk for arrhythmic events and so individualization of specific therapies can be applied., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)