Impact of Electrocardiographic Parameters on Sudden Death in Patients Receiving Maintenance Hemodialysis: Ten-Year Outcomes of the Q-Cohort Study.

AIM: Sudden death is one of the most common causes of death among hemodialysis patients. Electrocardiography (ECG) is a noninvasive and inexpensive test that is regularly performed in hemodialysis clinics. However, the association between abnormal ECG findings and the risk of sudden death in hemodialysis patients is yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the ECG parameters linked to sudden death in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

METHODS

The Q-Cohort Study is a multicenter, longitudinal, observational study of hemodialysis patients. In this study, 1,153 Japanese hemodialysis patients aged ≥ 18 years with ECG data recorded within 1 year of study enrollment were followed up for 10 years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between ECG parameters and sudden death.

RESULTS

During the median follow-up period of 9.0 years, 517 patients died, 76 of whom exhibited sudden death. After adjusting for confounding factors, higher heart rate, QT prolongation, and left ventricular hypertrophy as per the Sokolow-Lyon voltage criteria were found to be independently associated with an increased risk of sudden death. The adjusted HRs [95% CIs] for each abnormal ECG parameter were 2.02 [1.05-3.89], 2.10 [1.30-1.77], and 1.91 [1.18-3.09], respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher heart rate, QT prolongation, and left ventricular hypertrophy on ECG have been determined to be associated with an increased risk of sudden death. Therefore, regular ECG recording could enable medical practitioners to identify hemodialysis patients who require intervention to prevent lethal arrhythmia.