QT dispersion failed to estimate the global dispersion of ventricular repolarization measured using monophasic action potential mapping technique in swine and patients

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the QT dispersion measured from 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) can estimate the global dispersion of ventricular repolarization (DVR) measured using a monophasic action potential (MAP) mapping technique. Monophasic action potentials were recorded from 75 ± 12 left ventricular sites in 10 pigs and from 48 ± 16 left or right ventricular sites in 15 patients using the CARTO mapping system. The maximum DVRs in both end-of-repolarization and MAP duration among all the mapped sites were calculated and termed as global DVR for each measurement. QT intervals, QTpeak and QTend, were measured from the 12-lead ECG, and QT dispersions; namely the differences between the maximum and the minimum of the QTpeak and QTend were calculated. We found that QT dispersions were significantly smaller than (P < .05) and poorly correlated with the global DVRs both in pigs and patients. Bland-Altman agreement analysis demonstrated a marked variation of the differences and an obvious lack of agreement between the results obtained using the ECG and the MAP methods. In our patients, the global DVR increased markedly during ventricular tachycardia as compared with that during sinus rhythm (P < .05), whereas there was no significant difference in QT dispersion between these 2 subgroups. In conclusion, QT dispersion on the surface ECG could not estimate the global DVR measured using the MAP mapping technique. These findings are not consistent with some previously reported observations, suggesting the need for reappraisal of the electrophysiological implications of QT dispersion.