Distribution characteristics and prognostic value of 12-lead ECG PR interval in hospitalized patients with heart failure

X.-X. Zhang, L. Wang

Department of Cardiology, Jincheng People’s Hospital, Jincheng, China. wanglilyeah@21cn.com

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• Cardiology

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the distribution characteristics and prognostic value of the distance from the start of the P wave to the start of the QRS wave (PR interval) in 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) of hospitalized patients with heart failure.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 354 heart failure patients treated in our hospital from June 2018 to April 2020 were retrospectively selected as the study subjects. Among them, 86 cases were classified as the 101 ms-156 ms group, 92 cases as the 157 ms-169 ms group, 94 cases as the 170 ms-191 ms group, and 82 cases as the 192 ms-321 ms group based on the PR interval quartile. The clinical data of the subjects were collected and the changes in clinical data at different PR intervals were analyzed. The patients were followed up for 48 months and were further divided into 92 cases in the death group and 262 cases in the survival group. The changes in the levels of 12-lead ECG indexes in patients with different prognoses were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established to analyze the predictive value of 12-lead ECG on the prognosis of heart failure patients. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve was adopted to analyze the relationship between 12-lead ECG and survival time of heart failure patients.

RESULTS: There were significant differences in age, body mass index (BMI), cardiac function classification, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) among patients with different PR intervals (p<0.05). P-wave, PR interval, and QRS complex levels increased with increasing PR staging fraction (p<0.05). Compared with the survival group, the proportion of P wave, PR interval 192 ms-321 ms, and the level of QRS complex in the death group were much higher (p<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the P wave, PR interval, and QRS complex were all factors influencing the poor prognosis of patients with heart failure (p<0.05, Table Ⅳ). QRS complexes were all predictive of prognosis in heart failure patients (p<0.05). The median survival time (MST) of patients with P wave ≥113 ms was 35 months, which was sharply shorter than the patients in P wave <113 ms group (46 months, p<0.05). The MST of patients with PR interval of 101 ms-156 ms was 45.5 months, 42 months in the 157 ms-169 ms group, 39 months in the 170 ms-191 ms group, and 35 months in the 192 ms-321 ms group, exhibiting significant differences among the groups (p<0.05). The MST of patients with QRS complex ≥121.44 ms was 38 months, which was memorably shorter than 44.5 months of the patients with QRS complex <121.44 ms (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The 12-lead ECG of hospitalized patients with heart failure is significantly abnormal, and the PR interval, P wave width, and QRS complex are significantly prolonged. The P wave, PR intervals, and QRS complex had a certain correlation with the prognosis of heart failure patients.

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