Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• González, Nerea Torres
• Acosta, Luis Álvarez
• Miranda, Diego Valdivia
• Plasencia, Alejandro Iriarte
• Cáceres, Virginia Barreto
• Zambrano, Marx Rivera
• Afonso, Julio Salvador Hernández

Titel

QT interval measurement with portable device during COVID-19 outbreak

Ist Teil von

• International journal of cardiology. Heart & vasculature, 2020-10, Vol.30, p.100644-100644, Article 100644

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin significantly prolong QT interval.•COVID-19 causes high levels of ferritin, D-dimer and C-reactive protein.•Troponin elevation seems to be uncommon in COVID-19 patients.•A protocol for electrocardiographic control may reduce the risk of sudden death.•Portable devices reduce contact to perform electrocardiogram in isolated patients. Coronavirus Disease 2019 continues to spread and to date, no definitive treatment is available. Overcrowded and under-resourced healthcare centres have had to design different strategies to treat these patients, what includes the control of the electrocardiogram (ECG), as some drugs that have been used to treat this disease mayprolong the QT interval as a side effect. During the COVID-19 outbreak, we designed a protocol for monitoring the QT interval using a portable device with Bluetooth connectivity. After a validation study with 50 patients, we found a very good correlation between the QT interval measured both with this device and with the conventional body surface ECG. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the protocol and then analyse the QT changes observed in a group of patients during their hospitalization and treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection. 81 patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled in the protocol (age 63.4 SD 17.2 years; 70.3% men), while being treated with lopinavir/ritonavir, azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine, both individually or combined. Ten patients developed long drug-related QT interval, and the QT prolongation was statically significant for all treatment schemes. All patients with drug induced QT prolongation corrected the QT interval following the indications of the protocol, and no patients died of arrhythmic causes after its implementation. In our experience, a protocol for the electrocardiographic monitoring of these patients minimizes the risk of iatrogenic QT interval prolongation and consequently reduces sudden death events, and for that purpose, portable devices like the one used in this protocol may constitute a useful tool to minimize the contact with such patients.