Letter by Opthof et al Regarding Article, “Prolonged Tpeak to Tend Interval on the Resting Electrocardiogram Is Associated With Increased Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death”

Abstract

HomeCirculation: Arrhythmia and ElectrophysiologyVol. 4, No. 6Letter by Opthof et al Regarding Article, “Prolonged Tpeak to Tend Interval on the Resting Electrocardiogram Is Associated With Increased Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death” Free AccessLetterPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessLetterPDF/EPUBLetter by Opthof et al Regarding Article, “Prolonged Tpeak to Tend Interval on the Resting Electrocardiogram Is Associated With Increased Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death” Tobias Opthof, PhD, Michiel J. Janse, MD, PhD and Ruben Coronel, MD, PhD Tobias OpthofTobias Opthof Search for more papers by this author , Michiel J. JanseMichiel J. Janse Search for more papers by this author and Ruben CoronelRuben Coronel Search for more papers by this author Originally published1 Dec 2011https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCEP.111.965566Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. 2011;4:e87To the Editor:We read with great interest the paper by Panikkath et al.1 The authors conclude that a prolonged Tpeak to Tend (TpTe) interval in lead V5 is an independent risk marker of sudden cardiac death. In another study on male cardiovascular patients, the TpTe interval was significantly shorter in patients dying from any cause compared with those who survived, regardless of whether the TpTe interval was corrected for heart rate or not.2 Thus, the clinical usefulness of the TpTe interval for identifying patients at risk of (sudden cardiac) death is still far from established.Another discussion is the meaning of the TpTe interval in the ECG. We were, therefore, surprised to learn that the TpTe interval is “a measure of transmural dispersion of repolarization in the left ventricle” supported by 3 papers,3–5 of which we (co-)authored 2. In the debate on the meaning of the TpTe interval our position has been6 and is that the TpTe interval is a marker of total (regional) left ventricular dispersion of repolarization, at least in the canine heart, rather than of transmural dispersion of repolarization. Recently, this has led to several vivid debates.4,7–11Tobias Opthof, PhDMichiel J. Janse, MD, PhDRuben Coronel, MD, PhD Experimental Cardiology Group Center for Heart Failure Research, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam Department of Medical Physiology University Medical Center Utrecht Utrecht, the NetherlandsDisclosuresNone.