Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy
<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is a chronic cardiac dysfunction associated with liver cirrhosis, in patients without previous heart disease, irrespective of the etiology of cirrhosis. Electrocardiography (ECG) is an important way to evaluate patients with cirr...
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doaj-2a9010759f424f6f84688e5b3cbb44462020-11-25T02:16:09ZengMDPI AGMedicina1010-660X2020-02-015626810.3390/medicina56020068medicina56020068Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic CardiomyopathyLetitia Toma0Adriana Mercan Stanciu1Anca Zgura2Nicolae Bacalbasa3Camelia Diaconu4Laura Iliescu5Department of Internal Medicine II, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine II, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, RomaniaChemotherapy Department, OncoFort Hospital, 022328 Bucharest, RomaniaFaculty of General Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 022328 Bucharest, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Clinical Emergency Hospital of Bucharest, 022328 Bucharest, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine II, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, Romania<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is a chronic cardiac dysfunction associated with liver cirrhosis, in patients without previous heart disease, irrespective of the etiology of cirrhosis. Electrocardiography (ECG) is an important way to evaluate patients with cirrhosis and may reveal significant changes associated with liver disease. Our study aimed to evaluate ECG changes in patients with diagnosed liver cirrhosis and compare them to patients with chronic hepatitis. <i>Materials and Methods:</i> We evaluated laboratory findings and ECG tracings in 63 patients with cirrhosis and 54 patients with chronic hepatitis of viral etiology. The end points of the study were prolonged QT interval, QRS hypovoltage and T-peak-to-T-end decrease. We confirmed the diagnosis of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy using echocardiography data. <i>Results</i>: Advanced liver disease was associated with prolonged QT intervals. Also, QRS amplitude was lower in patients with decompensated cirrhosis than in patients with compensated liver disease. We found an accentuated deceleration of the T wave in patients with cirrhosis. These findings correlated to serum levels of albumin, cholesterol and ammonia. <i>Conclusions</i>: ECG changes in liver cirrhosis are frequently encountered and are important noninvasive markers for the presence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy.https://www.mdpi.com/1010-660X/56/2/68cirrhosiselectrocardiographyammoniaserum bilirubinhypoalbuminemia |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Letitia Toma Adriana Mercan Stanciu Anca Zgura Nicolae Bacalbasa Camelia Diaconu Laura Iliescu |
spellingShingle |
Letitia Toma Adriana Mercan Stanciu Anca Zgura Nicolae Bacalbasa Camelia Diaconu Laura Iliescu Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy Medicina cirrhosis electrocardiography ammonia serum bilirubin hypoalbuminemia |
author_facet |
Letitia Toma Adriana Mercan Stanciu Anca Zgura Nicolae Bacalbasa Camelia Diaconu Laura Iliescu |
author_sort |
Letitia Toma |
title |
Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy |
title_short |
Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy |
title_full |
Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy |
title_fullStr |
Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Electrocardiographic Changes in Liver Cirrhosis—Clues for Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy |
title_sort |
electrocardiographic changes in liver cirrhosis—clues for cirrhotic cardiomyopathy |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Medicina |
issn |
1010-660X |
publishDate |
2020-02-01 |
description |
<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is a chronic cardiac dysfunction associated with liver cirrhosis, in patients without previous heart disease, irrespective of the etiology of cirrhosis. Electrocardiography (ECG) is an important way to evaluate patients with cirrhosis and may reveal significant changes associated with liver disease. Our study aimed to evaluate ECG changes in patients with diagnosed liver cirrhosis and compare them to patients with chronic hepatitis. <i>Materials and Methods:</i> We evaluated laboratory findings and ECG tracings in 63 patients with cirrhosis and 54 patients with chronic hepatitis of viral etiology. The end points of the study were prolonged QT interval, QRS hypovoltage and T-peak-to-T-end decrease. We confirmed the diagnosis of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy using echocardiography data. <i>Results</i>: Advanced liver disease was associated with prolonged QT intervals. Also, QRS amplitude was lower in patients with decompensated cirrhosis than in patients with compensated liver disease. We found an accentuated deceleration of the T wave in patients with cirrhosis. These findings correlated to serum levels of albumin, cholesterol and ammonia. <i>Conclusions</i>: ECG changes in liver cirrhosis are frequently encountered and are important noninvasive markers for the presence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy. |
topic |
cirrhosis electrocardiography ammonia serum bilirubin hypoalbuminemia |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1010-660X/56/2/68 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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