Assessment of Ventricular Arrhythmias Risk in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Patients

Abstract

Abstract Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is characterized by acid regurgitation and epigastric burning that occur as the result of reflux of gastric content into the esophagus. Disturbances in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) were observed in patients with GERD. The evidence suggests that chronic GERD can cause an autonomic response, which results in ventricular arrhythmias (VAs). Our aim in the study is to examine T wave peak-to-end interval (TpeI) and the TpeI/QT ratio as highly sensitive gauges of ventricular repolarization anomalies and VAs potential in patients with GERD. In our study, The ECG measurements of both GERD and control groups are as follow; The QT wave dispersion (QTd) and corrected QT dispersion (cQTd) were higher in patients with GERD in comparison to controls (p = 0.002 and P = 0.09, respectively). Moreover, TpeI, corrected TpeI (cTpeI), and the TpeI/QT ratio were increased in patients with GERD in comparison to controls (p < 0.001, p = 0.018, and p < 0.001, respectively). We can conclude that patients with GERD may have an increased risk for VAs, and the VAs risk in patients with GERD can be predicted by measuring TpeI and the TpeI/QT ratio, which are the indicators of ventricular repolarization anomalies.