The QT interval dispersion has long been known to be a marker of dispersion of ventricular repolarisation or
electrical instability. Additionally, it has previously been shown that congenital ventricular septal defects (VSD)
occasionally induce a QRS axis shift. There is no knowledge about QT and QTc dispersion indicating
inhomogenous myocardial repolarization in the patients with VSD. In this study, we examined the values of
dispersion of ventricular repolarization in the patients with VSD. We examined 21 patients (mean age;6±2 years,
9M, 12F) with VSD and 26 age matched healthy subjects as the control group (mean age;9± 3 years, 14M, 12F).
We found QTd and QTc-d intervals of 54.2 ± 12.2 ms, 72,4 ± 9.2 ms in the patients withVSD, where the values
for control group were 45.1 ± 11.3ms and 61.5 ± 6.7ms respectively (for all, P< 0.05). Important increase in QT
and QTc dispersion indicating inhomogenous myocardial repolarization were noted in patients with VSD.
In conclusion the data of this study suggest that the patients with VSD appear to have repolarization
abnormalities, reflected by an increase in QT and QTc dispersion. This finding may be important in the
explanation of ventricular repolarization abnormalities in patients with VSD.
Key words: Congenital Ventricular Septal Defect, QT Interval, QT Dispersion, QTc Dispersion
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