Significance of Electrocardiographic Right Ventricular Hypertrophy in Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension with or without Right Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction

Abstract

We sought to determine the value of electrocardiographic right ventricular hypertrophy (ECG-RVH) in pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients with right ventricular systolic dysfunction defined by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR-RVSD). A total of 31 consecutive patients with PH with a mean pulmonary arterial pressure of >25 mmHg underwent both ECG and CMR studies. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the presence of RVSD, defined as a RV ejection fraction <35%. Logistic regression modeling was performed to define the association between ECG-RVH and CMR-RVSD. About half of the patients had RVSD (n=15 ; 48%). The R to S wave ratio (p=0.01) or incidence of qR pattern (p=0.002) in lead V(1) was significantly greater in patients with PH complicated by RVSD than in those without RVSD. These 2 patterns were significant predictors of RVSD [odds ratio (OR), 19.3 for qR; OR, 14.0 for R/S>1] and when each of these ECG findings was assigned with a point proportional to OR (score of 2 for qR in lead V(1) and score of 1 for R/S>1 in lead V(1)), the incidence of RVSD increased by the total ECG score. The combination of ECG-RVH findings, especially in lead V(1), predicts the presence of RVSD defined by CMR. ECG might be a useful tool for estimating the presence of RVSD in patients with PH.