Autonomic modulation of repolarization instability in patients with heart failure prone to ventricular tachycardia

QT variability (QTV) signifies repolarization lability, and increased QTV is a risk predictor for sudden cardiac death. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of autonomic nervous system activity on QTV. This study was performed in 29 subjects: 10 heart failure (HF) patients with spontaneous ventricular tachycardia [HFVT(+)], 10 HF patients without spontaneous VT [HFVT(+)], and 9 subjects with structurally normal hearts (H_Norm). The beat-to-beat QT interval was measured on 3-min records of surface ECGs at baseline and during interventions (atrial pacing and esmolol, isoprenaline, and atropine infusion). Variability in QT intervals was expressed as the SD of all QT intervals (SDQT). The ratio of the SDQT to SD of RR intervals (SDRR) was calculated as an index of QTV normalized to heart rate variability. There was a trend toward a higher baseline SDQT-to-SDRR ratio in the HFVT(+) group compared with the HFVT(+) and H_Norm groups (P = 0.09). SDQT increased significantly in the HFVT(+) and HFVT(+) groups compared with the H_Norm group during fixed-rate atrial pacing (P = 0.008). Compared with baseline, isoprenaline infusion increased SDQT in H_Norm subjects (P = 0.02) but not in HF patients. SDQT remained elevated in the HFVT(+) group relative to the H_Norm group despite acute β-adrenoceptor blockade with esmolol (P = 0.02). In conclusion, patients with HF and spontaneous VT have larger fluctuations in beat-to-beat QT intervals. This appears to be a genuine effect that is not solely a consequence of heart rate variation. The effect of acute autonomic nervous system modulation on QTV appears to be limited in HF patients.