QT interval measurement with portable device during COVID-19 outbreak

International Journal of Cardiology: Heart & Vasculature

卷:30

Luis Álvarez Acosta¹  Virginia Barreto Cáceres²  Marx Rivera Zambrano²  Nerea Torres González²  Julio Salvador Hernández Afonso²  Diego Valdivia Miranda³  Alejandro Iriarte Plasencia³ 

[1] Corresponding author at: Ctra. Gral. del Rosario, 145, 38010 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.;

[2] Department of Cardiology, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria (HUNSC), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain;

[3] Division of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Department of Cardiology, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria (HUNSC), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain;

关键词: COVID-19;    SARS-CoV-2;    QT interval;    Azithromycin;    Hydroxychloroquine;    Portable device;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

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 may prolong 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.

【 授权许可】

Unknown