OR34. Evaluation of P wave abnormalities in newly diagnosed COVID-19

Abstract

AimsThe aim of the current study was to evaluate P wave abnormalities, including prolonged P wave duration, prolonged P wave dispersion (PWD) and abnormal P wave axis (PWA) in newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients.Methods and ResultsThis is a cross-sectional, single center study with a total of 53 newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients (confirmed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test) and 63 age and sex-matched control subjects were included in the study. P wave dispersion, maximum P wave duration, and PWA were calculated manually from 12-lead ECG. Patients with COVID-19 more often had prolonged PWD, defined as PWD ≥ 36 ms compared to control group (37,7% vs 15,9%), (OR = 3,212; 95%CI 1,34 – 7,70; p = 0,007). There were no significant association between COVID-19 and prolonged P wave (defined as maximum P wave duration > 106 ms) (OR = 1,446; 95%CI 0,454 – 4,6; p = 0,531) and abnormal PWA (defined as any value of PWA outside 0 to 75°) (OR = 5,061; 95%CI 0,548 – 46,74; p = 0,115).ConclusionOur study showed that COVID-19 patients are more likely to have prolonged PWD compared to control patients. However, COVID-19 was not significantly associated with prolonged P wave and abnormal PWA. We believe that initial non-invasive evaluation of PWD may serve as a predictor of atrial arrhytmias often found in COVID-19 patients.