The Effect of Hemodialysis Treatment on Ventricular Arrhythmogenesis Parameters in Electrocardiography

Aim: Cardiovascular events, including ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD), are the primary source of death in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Checking ECG parameters such as QT interval, QT dispersion (QTd), TPe interval, TPe/QT ratio, and cardiac-electrophysiological balance (iCEB = QT/QRS) can be useful for classifying patients with high arrhythmia and SCD risk. Our study aimed to compare the change of electrocardiographic parameters before and after the HD session with the healthy control group.

Methods: A total of 49 HD patients and 50 healthy volunteers were included in the study. The groups were divided into two groups as hemodialysis and control group. ECGs of the hemodialysis group were evaluated before and after dialysis. ECG data were scanned and evaluated on a digital platform. QT, cQT, QTd, TPe, TPe/QT, TPe/cQT, QT/QRS, and cQT/QRS were measured.

Results: While QTd, cQTd, TPe, TPe / QTc, and QRS decreased significantly after hemodialysis compared to pre-HD(p <0.05 for each), HR, iCEB, and iCEBc showed a significant increase after dialysis treatment (p <0.05 for each). Comparing pre-dialysis ECG parameters with the control group, QT, cQT, QTd, cQTd, TPe and iCEBc were significantly higher in pre-HD (p <0.05 for each). Comparing the ECG parameters after dialysis, HR, cQT, QTd, cQTd, iCEB, and iCEBc values were significantly higher than the control group (p <0.05 for each).

Conclusion: By evaluating the electrocardiographic parameters showing ventricular repolarization and depolarization together, the risk of arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death can be predicted in HD patients.