WAVE MORPHOLOGY DURING HEART RATE TURBULENCE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEART FAILURE

Heart Rate Turbulence (HRT) is the distinctive response of the sinus rhythm of the heart to an isolated ventricular ectopic beat (VEB). The quantification of this process can be used to stratify the risk of sudden cardiac death in patients with a history of acute myocardial infarction. A sensitivity of around 30% has been achieved in different studies. However, the large number of misleading results of the method suggests that new and better risk stratifiers could be developed. In this work, Holter ECG recordings were used to analyze the morphology of the T wave during the HRT in patients with chronic heart failure. The HRT was characterized by newly introduced parameters. In addition, the comparison between normal T waves before and after the VEB showed small but significant changes in morphology. The morphological changes of the T wave could be used for diagnostic purposes.